Star Wars: The Skywalker Heresy - Episode III: Ghosts of the Force
by trekaddict
Summary: Five years after the Exodus, the Republic Remnant has settled in, but supplies and parts for their ships are scarce. To fix this, Anakin Skywalker proposes a plan that makes his friends and family worry. At the same time there are still some Jedi out there, hunted by the Empire. Rated T for naughty words and SciFi Violence. Part 3 of the Heresyverse.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: First the Title Crawl. Cue the Music!**

 **Star Wars**

 **The Skywalker Heresy**

 **Episode III**

 **Ghosts of the Force**

 _Civil War is tearing the Galaxy apart._

 _In the five years since the Exodus, the Republic Remnant and the Jedi Order have taken the fight to the Empire. Aided by the Jedi, Rebel cells on many Rim Worlds are struggling against the Iron Fist of the Emperor._

 _The evil Lady of the Sith, Darth Paqua, has since become the symbol for the Empire and it's ruthless ways. At the orders of Darth Sidious, and together with the Imperial Inquisitors she has set out to exterminate the Rebellion and the Jedi alike._

 _At the same time, Jedi Knights scour the Outer Rim for survivors of the Purge even while assisting those taking up the fight._

 _Meanwhile Jedi Knight and Republic General Skywalker is still at odds with fellow Jedi Ferus Olin, who has become an unwilling symbol of the followers of the Old Ways, over the issue of Jedi Code reform..._

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

 **5.3 After Jedi Exodus**

"Welcome back, Commander."

Ahsoka nodded a reply to the Chief who was already attaching a fuel hose to the _Mynock_ 's port. "Glad to be back, Chief."

It was true. She had spent the last eight months on the same back end of the Galaxy planet, overseeing the transfer of a small fleet's worth of freight back to Weitun, and she was glad to be home. She was supposed to report to the Republic Council right away, but there were one or two things she had to do first. One of them was parked in a section of the massive base hangar denoted by the blue-white-blue squadron insignia that someone had painted over Blue Squadron's section of the Hangar a few months after the Squadron had been established. Parked there near the back since she'd left was RSC-0002, in other words her fighter. She walked past the other Z-95s, greeting those of her people that were there before standing next to the orange and white nose. As she always did when she passed by, she patted it's battlescarred hull, mentally recalling the stories behind the dents, scrapes and scorchmarks that they had collected together over the last four years along with the kill markings under the cockpit.

Had it really been five years already since she'd selected this one from the then far larger pool of vehicles? Even though they had all been the same then and been given the same modifications that Anakin had done to his, she knew that this one was special. There was the small dent next to the cargo compartment hatch that she had produced one night while landing on a nearly airless moon by accidentally sidestepping into a rock, or the burnmark that had nearly taken off one of her engines last year and dozens of other peculiarities. Long story short, she loved this little Headhunter and had missed it. She let her fingers run along the concussion missile launcher and turned away with the full intent to take her out for a spin at the earliest opportunity.

Right now though she had something more important to do, and she had spied that over in the section belonging to Red Squadron. Just as with the Blues, the Reds had their own section with their insignia marking it, and as with her own squadron, they also had a single, partly disassembled ETA-2 Interceptor parked nearby. Only that theirs was constantly being worked on, even though nowadays it never quite made it to flight. At this very moment it was being worked on by a very senior Jedi Knight.

Being probably the most powerful Jedi in History, Anakin sensed her approach and turned with a wide grin on his face.

"Long time no see, Snips." he said.

"Same to you, Skyguy."

He gave an indulgent smile and tilted his head towards her. "The twins will be ecstatic that you're back. They've been needling Padmé and me about their favourite aunt for weeks."

"Well then we shouldn't let them wait. I've missed them too." she replied. After leaving some orders for the crew that serviced the _Mynock_ and officially signing back in with the Deck Officer, she rejoined Anakin and together they left Echo Base for the settlement proper.

In the years since it's founding, Sanctuary had grown considerably, and it now housed a civilian population of almost eleven thousand beings in addition to the Republic Military. Between it and the mountains fields and cattle pens serviced by droids and a few farmers stretched as far as the naked eye of any species could see, small-scale industry that serviced the basic needs of the population could be seen near the civilian landing field.

"So how are they doing?" Ahsoka couldn't help but ask with more then casual interest in her voice.

Anakin looked at her, approval and pride shining in his eyes, in equal parts for his children and his former Padawan. Ahsoka still tended to think that she was being honoured by her status as an honorary Skywalker, but to Padmé and himself it was just a normal thing to do. It helped that Luke and Leia both adored her and had done so since they had been able to form even the basest emotional bonds, and it was obvious that this went both ways.

No, she would be a great Master to one of his children.

Right now though... Master Yoda was had taken to teaching the Living Force class in the open air if the weather allowed, which was certainly a great change in Anakin's opinion, especially on a planet this strong in the Force.

"And how's Padmé?"

"Throwing herself into her work when she isn't being a mother." Anakin said with a fond grin, "The Council..." he paused before clarifying, the change had happened when Ahsoka had been off-planet, "the Republic Council has decided that there might be something to those rumours about the Chiss after all. But it will be some time before there is actual need for an old-fashioned diplomat. Right now she's negotiating a deal with the Independents on Ketan."

Ahsoka frowned. "Hopefully not alone. That planet never was safe even before the war."

"Obi Wan is with her. If all goes well, they should be back by later tonight." Anakin replied, though Ahsoka didn't have to use the Force to sense his discomfort at the whole affair. She knew that Padmé and Anakin rarely fought, but it couldn't have been a happy conversation when she'd told him that she was going to go. That thought was confirmed by the way Anakin changed the subject.

"Red Squadron is on the list for the next raid."

"Who's in support?"

"Gold this time. Green is still trying to get those last three Y-Wings operational again. Luckily for us the Empire is throwing them out at bargain prices."

That wasn't strictly true, since the sources from which they had acquired the Y-Wing Bombers for Gold and Green Squadrons were anything but official, Ahsoka herself had partaken in the theft of several, but components were still being manufactured and there were more than a few system defence forces that used what the Empire now saw as second-line craft, making spare parts less of an issue than might be expected under the circumstances. Neither squadron was ever up to establishment strength, but at least that way the limited supply of proton torpedoes would last longer.

"So where to?"

"Don't know yet, but will at least not be visiting Tierfon again."

Ahsoka snorted, giving evidence to her displeasure about that idea. That planet had once housed a Rebel group that had been very close to fully joining the Remnant before being betrayed to the Empire that had sparked the closest thing to a sustained military campaign the Remnant had fought since the Exodus, and even though they had eventually ceded the Planet to the Empire, the Remnant had suffered losses there they could ill-afford.

"Master, we need those groups. And we did capture the _Alacrity_ in the process."

Now it was his turn to snort. "Yes, and it took us almost a year to get her back into fighting condition. Never mind that this cost us half a dozen starfighters. I'd rather have those pilots than a Carrack class."

Ahsoka didn't reply, since she knew that he would not be deterred. The Remnant's fleet had grown considerably and to the point where dispatching a decent-sized raid force no longer meant that they had to completely expose Weitun, and by now they could service at least the smaller ships locally. Something the size of _Fearless_ was still beyond their means, even though she was in sore need of a refit.

And at any rate, Ahsoka had just returned from a highly successful mission that she and Scout had embarked on together, and while the latter had remained behind to work with the Remnant's elements operating in that sector, Ahsoka was back, and therefore it was unbecoming of him to brood. Besides –

He was interrupted by two small whirlwinds that came running from where Yoda had just dismissed his class, barrelled straight past him and almost pushed over Ahsoka who had fallen a few steps behind.

"Soki! Soki! Soki!" both twins yelled, using the nickname that had somehow stuck from when they had firs tried and failed to pronounce her name correctly. No one really minded, the only rule Ahsoka had laid down that the twins were the only ones allowed to call her that.

"Up!" Luke exclaimed as if he were still a toddler, shortly followed by his sister. Ahsoka grinned but she shook her head. "Luke, you know that you've grown too much. I can't carry you both any more."

They both exclaimed their disagreement with that statement, and Anakin watched. Normally he wouldn't have indulged them like this, and normally they knew better than to be so boisterous during class hours, but Ahsoka had been away for months, and the formal end to today's instructions was only a few minutes away. So he just stood and watched that part of his odd family play out. He didn't actively seek it out, but in these dark times the sheer happiness and mutual adoration he felt over his bonds with his children and former Padawan was heartwarming and would always sustain him when times were rough.

This was why the Jedi Reforms were ultimately a good thing, in spite of the naysayers that still adhered to the old ways. He'd had long discussions with Obi Wan and Master Yoda, and between them they'd come to agree that emotions themselves were never the way to the Dark Side, it was how you acted on them, and teaching any prospective Jedi those things was something the Order had dedicated itself to.

Knowing that his children were in good hands as long as they stayed with Ahsoka and that it wouldn't be possible to tear them away from her for a good hour, he went to speak to Master Yoda. He didn't like the plan he had come up with. He positively hated it and what he would have to do to implement it, but looking back at the two young initiate and their excited chatter, he knew that he had to do it. Needs must when the devils fly.

* * *

A considerable distance away, Olin was supervising a few younger Knights as they prepared for the monthly inspection of the crystal cave. Most of the work would actually be done by Master Yoda, who had taken up the task of ensuring that the artificially sown crystals grew in a pattern and in forms that made them useful, but the elder Master was usually accompanied by two of the younger knights, using the time to teach those that needed it how to reach an even better equilibrium in the living Force. Olin had volunteered to keep an eye on them while they waited mostly because he wanted to get away from the hustle and bustle of people that characterized life in Sanctuary these days. Civilians and Jedi had mixed freely and with surprisingly few real incidents since they had come here, but he still preferred solitude and the company of his fellows.

Normally at least. Today he was faintly irritated because of that company, similar to the way Skywalker annoyed him. With him it was part irrational jealousy towards the Remnant's poster boy and part his ability to get away with everything he did, all that tinged with the grudging respect Skywalker had earned with his deeds and his behaviour in the last five years.

The difference was that his current company belonged to that informal, unnamed group of Jedi who refused to let go of the old Jedi Code. While it was now perfectly normal to see Padawans or full-grown knights pairing off with someone, these... you had to call them Orthodox Jedi refused to partake and sometimes tended to look down on those who had embraced the new ways. It wasn't anything too overt, but their feelings were clear enough to any Force user who could be bothered to search out their feelings.

They also dressed in the old robes as much as they could and while almost all other Jedi had taken to carrying a blaster of some description in addition to the sabre, but the other type of Jedi refused to carry anything but the base equipment that had essentially remained unchanged for centuries.

It was also no coincidence that they never left Weitun. Not only was their manner of dress fairly conspicuous these days thanks to never-ending Imperial propaganda that painted the Jedi as baby-stealing, mind-controlling monsters. Certainly most of them had been the more philosophically inclined Jedi to begin with and were willing to 'mind the store' as well as at least theoretically entertain the changes that had been made while more active Jedi such as Skywalker, Tano or himself went and fought the Empire, and appreciated what was done out there. However the two Olin was supervising right now belonged to a small group that refused to entertain even the notion that the old ways had been anything but perfect, and they had come to despise Skywalker as the symbol of the New Way Jedi. Olin, being known not to be a fan of the Hero with No Fear had flabbergasted them when he had refused to become the face of their faction. They had been amazed when he had told them that while he didn't approve of all the changes nor the way in which they had come about, he also felt that overall they were the way to the future as the old Code had clearly failed them in the past as it had prevented the council from sensing Palpatine's true nature.

As a consequence Olin was between factions. Those that supported the New Code disliked him for his opposition to their greatest hero, while the Old Way Jedi disliked him for spurning them and be so accepting of everything that had changed.

Not that he minded, as even five years on he still wasn't so sure where he belonged within the Jedi Order.

Which was why he ignored the not quite polite comments the two younger Jedi were making and concentrated on his duties, for whatever any single Jedi felt or how he reacted to what had happened since the Exodus, the Force was with them all.

And what were they saying right now? "-don't deserve to be Jedi, they are the product of the grossest violation of the code."

His friend nodded in agreement. "Skywalker should have been expelled on the spit, no matter what he supposedly did during Order 66."

"Either that or he should have been made to give up his marriage if he wanted to have his children trained. This is all his wife's fault. She should have known better than to seduce a Jedi."

Olin decided that this had to stop. What they said to each other behind closed doors was theirs to say and do, but any of those utterances would be enough for Skywalker to achieve escape velocity without the benefit of a ship, never mind that the most innocent in all this were the twins. What was more, Olin had long since learned what had happened on Geonosis back then and gotten to know Padmé Skywalker fairly well on a professional level, and she was anything but the vile seductress out to cripple the Jedi Order some made her out to be outside the earshot of her, her husband or anyone with a functioning brain.

True, the Skywalker family were the darlings of the Remnant, but even though he still believed that Skywalker should have been punished for his transgressions, Olin had to admit that he wasn't the same Padawan he had been years before. He was still rash, sarcastic and tended to complain about the weather, but he had lost that sense of entitlement and was even fairly humble for someone of his stature and fame. It was Skywalker himself who had insisted that neither of his children be given any sort of preferential treatment such as personal training from any of the members of the council, unless they earned it on their own merits. He had also refused to partake in the doctrine discussions that had characterized the time just after they'd established Sanctuary and instead thrown himself into formulating newer and better starfighter tactics. Sometimes, when it had been a long time since he'd seen his family something else became visible, some sort of guilt, most likely about being away for so long.

Long story short and his status as a Jedi aside, between them the Skywalkers were superb parents, and he had to admit, however grudgingly, that they were an equally superb rolemodel for others because even though a second generation of Jedi had been born since the code had been changed, they were the ones with the most experience in raising force-sensitive children outside the old structures of the Order.

Not that it mattered to these two, it seemed.

"That's enough." Olin barked, and the two of them stared at him as if he'd just revealed himself to be Master Yoda in disguise.

"But..."

"But nothing, Bendak. This sort of talk is unbecoming of a Jedi."

"He deserves it! Neither he nor his spawn should be in the order, you know that."

Olin was tempted to quote one of Yoda's favourite truisms about emotions and the Dark Side, but thought better of it.

"No, I do not." he said instead, deciding to put his foot down once and for all, sick of always being pulled into these conversations on the sole virtue of not being a member of the Skywalker fan club. "Anakin Skywalker may not deserve many things, but being a Jedi is _Not. One. Of. Them._ So you better keep these thoughts away from where I can hear them, understood?"

Both barely being out of their teens it didn't surprise Olin that they merely grumbled that they had understood and then promptly began to silently glare at him until Master Yoda arrived. The inspection of the cave went smoothly, and Yoda could tell the Council that the chronic shortage of lightsabre crystals would be over if care was taken where in the cave crystals were harvested.

"Something troubles you, hmm?"

Olin watched where the two returned to their quarters before turning back towards Yoda.

"Yes, Master." he replied and outlined the 'conversation' in question.

Yoda didn't say anything, first pondering what he'd heard. "A difficult issue, this is. A solution, we must find, deserve it, Skywalker does. As do his younglings."

"Yes, Master. But we cannot make them stop talking this way."

"Do that, we must not. No better than the Empire, we would be. Like this not, Skywalker will."

Olin snorted. "That's an understatement if I've ever heard one. Master, with all due respect, but Anakin will be able to fly to the docks without a shuttle when he hears what those to have said about his children. He's learned to ignore the normal things long ago, Master but what makes him such a good father is what will make him very angry indeed."

"Bad that would be, very bad, yes. Has been so in the past."

Olin was puzzled at this remark and made a mental note to check into that another time.

"Tell him about this incident, we will not." Yoda decreed.

"Yes, Master."

"Talk to the Council I will, at the next opportunity, yes. Proven worthy of our support, Skywalker has."

"Yes, Master."

 **tbc**

 **So here we go, Episode III: Ghosts of the Force has officially begun.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The shuttle needled it's way through the massive expanse of the Kuat Drive Yards, and Trun watched as construction droids and normal workers swarmed over the partly-assembled hull of an Imperial-Class Star Destroyer. Construction was proceeding swiftly, as it was on all the berths in this facility. Oddly enough he wasn't here for the briefing on Rebel activities he'd conducted planetside, nor for the reported espionage efforts by the Rebels, but rather to meet his wife. They had meant to meet on Alderaan, but his second child had decided to appear into the world two weeks early, so Senator Organa had interrupted the voyage, insisted that she be placed into the best Med Centre on the planet at his own expense and called her husband on his own priority HoloNet transmitter.

It had taken Trun not very long to whistle up transportation with his position in Intelligence, but his other daughter had been even more of a hellraiser when he'd told her that it would be some time before they could meet her new sister. Thankfully the Director had, upon hearing the need for the trip, told him not to let himself be seen at his post for the next week at least, having earned it through competent and loyal service for the last four years.

Now he was on a direct approach to the Naval Med Centre and he was not above using his Imperial Intelligence priority override codes to get there even faster. The grassy plains and forests of the planet itself came closer as the shuttle approached the city. Bypassing the spaceport, Trun's pilot landed the shuttle near the VIP entrance and without bothering to acknowledge the man, Trun grabbed his daughter and together they raced out of the shuttle and into the building.

Reception was handled by a droid that by his annoying and obstructive manner reminded Trun of a Gungan.

"I am sorry Sir, but without a proper authorization or proof of relation I cannot give you the location of Varan Trun."

Decidedly bothered by this and not in the mood for the usual niceties, Trun decided to pull out the hammer.

"Override Code Alpha-Alpha-One-One-Three-Eight-Enable."

It was an override code he'd been given for emergencies only, when he had to convince anyone within the Imperial bureaucracy stupid enough to disobey him. Director Isard would probably rip off his head and spit down his throat for using it like this, but right now he didn't care. The Droid keyed the code into it's terminal and was told to release the information.

Trun didn't even dignify it with a response after he was given the information and merely ran towards the room indicated. He was brought up short not by another droid but by the presence of no lesser a person than Senator Bail Organa himself. They had met only a few times before when Varan had taken him to a few receptions and the like, and Trun was well aware of the quiet, disguised form in which Director Isard had questioned him the next time he had reported for work after each occasion. Still, he liked the Senator. He might be a bit headstrong, but he served the Empire well and was, when you came down to it, a good man who really cared about the beings he represented.

Even though his only daughter was an adopted War Orphan, his father's smile was genuine when he greeted the now Senior Captain.

"Captain, I see you were promoted."

Trun only nodded in thanks and stepped inside, dragging Linto behind himself. Varan, even more beautiful than he remembered, was fast asleep, with his as of yet unnamed second daughter safely cradled by her side, a medical droid standing watch. He considered waking her, but decided not to. She had done the most exhausting thing any human woman could do, and she deserved the rest.

"I want to stay." Linto whispered.

"Your mother needs her sleep." Trun replied.

"I'll be quiet, promise."

The way she looked up at him, with her mother's eyes did him in, so he admonished her not to make a sound and watched as she tip-toed her way towards the bed, silently pulled up a chair and laid her head to rest next to her sister's tiny body, silently whispering towards her. With a smile, Trun turned and left the room. Organa was waiting outside.

"Daughters are why King Avantes went mad." Trun said with a dopey grin on his face coming from the haze of a new father, so he didn't notice how Organa's head snapped over. The Senator felt bad for what he had about to do, but this reference to an ancient playwright from Director Isard's homeworld could not be a coincidence, because he'd been alone when the Director had stated this, neither Trun nor his wife had been present. Could it be that the new assignment in 'administration' was far higher up than he'd suspected?

He felt bad about using something from a moment like this, but there would be a few very, very, very discreet inquieries made, and he would have to watch his words even more when talking to his very own chief of staff. He had more than once been tempted to give the position to someone else and have Varan Trun be moved to some other high-profile position just so that he could do his work with the Remnant with less cloak and dagger, but for one, he would have had to find a good explanation because she was so blasted good at her job and second, he liked her. She cared about her work, cared about the beings in the sector in spite of the Empire's institutional humano-centrism that saw entire sectors of non-human systems 'represented' by someone who'd never left Coruscant in his life. He had even considered bringing her into the fold, but that was of course not an option now. Still, what was that saying about seizing opportunities as they presented themselves? If need be, Trun might be a good conduit at some point, a connection with Imperial Intelligence could always be useful. Still, the man had just become a father again, so he deserved some support.

"Luckily my own daughter is quite the little princess, but they probably all are at that age."

Trun nodded. "How old is she now?"

"Four years and a few."

"Then enjoy it while it lasts, Senator." Trun said with a smirk, thinking about the little hellraiser that was now so dutifully guarding her new sister. Though not so little any more, all things considered. She was almost eight years old after all, and he already worried about the later years.

"Thank you for doing this, Senator." he said earnestly.

Organa waved it away. "It was nothing."

Trun was aware of the Senator's own less than normal history with having children and decided not to push it, and anyway he was far too honestly grateful to object to what Organa had done.

"It was the right thing to do, and these days it's all that matters." Organa went on, aware how dangerous this impromptu fishing expedition could quickly become.

The younger man on the other hand had yet to return to his usual measured self control.

"Very true, Senator. The Rim is teeming with rebel activity despite the best pacification efforts of Lady Paqua and the Imperial fleet. We still have a few heavily fortified Separatist holdouts."

Bail tried not to wince, but official language aside, the man was correct. The Imperial fleet had brutally crushed a few holdouts and destroyed several cells, that had only been isolated cells or groups that were not even aware the Remnant existed, so the effort as a whole hadn't suffered overly much, but even though Organa knew that would take generations to topple the Imperial throne, the casualties on the way there were bound to bother him.

"Not for long. Those holdouts are on borrowed time, since they can't or won't reinforce each other, and those that could theoretically survive, which they will not of course, would do so because they would be too small to be noticed. The lone ship here and there, or the odd missed organic infantry unit on some sort of backwater Rim World."

There were numerous examples of how 'pacified' worlds suffered under the heel, but as much as that pained Bail, he knew that there was little he could do. The Rebellion, Remnant and other, needed to gather it's strength. The Republic Navy might be able to overwhelm any local Imperial contingents, but the moment they annoyed Palpatine enough to send Paqua in to hunt them instead of enforcing Imperial authority against the Hutts and various restive systems in their direction, they were dead. The Republic Council knew this all too well and had adjusted their strategy and tactics. This had only been reinforced by the disaster on Tierfon. Speaking of which...

"Well, the presence of the Fleet certainly helps. Especially in our relief efforts on Tierfon."

Trun waved that away. "Rest assured Senator, the damage on that world isn't as great as was... initially reported."

Definitely Intelligence, Bail decided. No one else would be crazy enough to openly say to an Imperial Senator that the reporting from Tierfon was bogus. But this was getting dangerous, so he decided to change things back to a topic they could talk more openly about.

"But enough of the Galaxy as a whole. Allow me again to congratulate you on your second daughter, Captain."

"Thank you, Sir. I only fear that if she is anything like her sister or her mother, then I will have my hands full once she discovers the other half of the species."

Bail laughed. "Gods, this is my worst fear too. That my daughter goes and runs away with some fighter pilot or Corellian scoundrel."

Trun shuddered and made a theatrical wave of his hands.

"Please no. That's a fate I want for neither of my daughters."

He couldn't know that Bail had had a similar conversation with Anakin Skywalker when he'd last seen him two years ago, and the Jedi Knight and Republic General had used similar words when referring to Leia. A protective father if ever there was one.

"I fear that daughters tend to do exactly what we do _don't_ want them to do, and all to often they are encouraged by their mothers."

"But we love them anyway." Trun said, smiling towards the door and clearly anxious to get back inside the room.

"But we love them anyway." Bail echoed, and he meant every word of it.

 **tbc**

 **So, according to what I know, Leia always felt that Winter was the more regal and princess-like of the two, and that Star Wars Tales issue that contains a few snapshots from their childhood certainly supports that. Therefore I am going with that here. That being said, TTL's Leia is going to be somewhat less refined and diplomatic but at the same time a hellishly powerful Jedi. Put that together with the sort of training and specialization I have in mind for her...hehehe.**

 **Anywho, this is far shorter than I wanted it to be, but the ending kind of fell into place, and I decided to cut it there. Up next: Trouble in SPAAAAAACEfaring technology for the Remnant and proposed solutions, as well as some rumours from the Outer Rim.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry for the lack of replies, but I migrated computers.**

 **Chapter 3**

 _Two weeks before Ahsoka's return to Weitun_

 _The bolt glanced off Anakin's shields, depleting them even further. He knew that one or two more of those and they would be down. With four TIEs on his tail it was unlikely he wouldn't get hit again, even more so since he was acting as the rear guard while the rest of Red Squadron landed back aboard [/I]Fearless[I] which wasn't easy to do with most of the fighter control systems non-operational. Luckily the hangar itself was fine._

 _He grinned when the message of 'Recovery complete' came over the squadron channel._

 _More laser bolts raced around him, but these were blue, and he could see the distinctive shape of the [/I]Another Chance[I] swerving around the larger hull of the Star Destroyer, engaging the few TIEs that dared to come close to the three Republic ships. Anakin sighed and slammed the fighter into a tight turn, aiming it directly at the gaping hangar and pushed towards it far faster than he would do under normal circumstances. The ship rocked from even more impacts against her own depleted deflectors even as he slowly hovered to the nearest empty spot. With the hangar doors already closed behind him and someone having reported his landing to the bridge, he experienced the short moment of disorientation when the ship went to lightspeed. He raised the canopy and did a quick survey, but the numbers didn't change, two of his pilots were dead and another three had barely managed to bring their damaged mounts back._

 _And it was all his very own fault._

 _It had been him who had volunteered Red Squadron for the rear-guard duty as they covered the retreat of the last Tierfon refugees, he had been the one to fall for an Imperial ambush that was blindingly obvious to him now. He would never be able to forget the faces of those who had died, and he would personally add their pictures to the wall of remembrance at Echo Base. He asked into the Force to beg for their forgiveness, a habit he had acquired as losses among the Remnant had continued to mount and placed his helmet in his seat where he would collect it later._

 _Most of his pilots were gathered around the small knot of fighters where they had parked. Anakin joined them, but unlike the other times they had done this, no one was in a celebratory mood. When they had first formed the squadron in it's current form after the Raid on the Depot, half the pilots had been Jedi, the rest drawn from the civilians, political prisoners and some Republic Navy fliers with prior experience. Of those originals only four remained, and of those only Anakin remained. Fortunately 'only' a few of the Jedi had actually been killed, most had instead been transferred out as their skills were too valuable elsewhere, but even so the death toll was staggering._

 _With them all being in the same mood as him, they only exchanged a few words about those that had died that day before heading off to their debriefing._

 _One not very pleasant hour later Anakin joined Kawgipi on the bridge._

 _"How bad is it?" the Vice Admiral asked._

 _"Two killed, two badly wounded and most of our Headhunters need a full overhaul at least."_

 _She didn't_ quite _wince, but the sentiment was obvious from the way her head-tails twitched._

 _"Yourself?" Anakin asked, knowing how much of the Republic's fortunes rested on this ship._

 _"Hyperdrive down to fifty percent capacity, since we lost one of the Induction motivators during that torpedo attack. Sublight is even worse, there we're down to twenty-five percent safe capacity. My Engineers tell me they can push it to thirty-five in an emergency but they'd probably never talk to me again. Our missile magazines are as close as makes no difference to empty."_

 _Anakin stared out the viewports at the spectacle of hyperspace. Once again, all his fault._

 _"Admiral, I am sorry. If I had..."_

 _If what? If he had waited on the run before this one to take off the last instead of trying to preserve his force in the face of overwhelming enemy numbers? If he hadn't fallen for the ambush and sensed the presence of that Imperial-Class Star Destroyer they'd just so narrowly escaped?_

 _Kawgipi looked at him and said nothing. She had argued for waiting the last time, and still figured that the damage they would have taken then would be less than what they had now. Part of her blamed Skywalker for this and for the death of some of her crew. But another part knew how much he blamed himself and how keenly he felt the death of anyone under his command, not only as a force user but also as a sentient being. It so didn't fit with the old image of the great Anakin Skywalker, but over the last few years she'd learned how little of that image was accurate. He was fearless, but only because he knew the Force was with him and those he loved where kept safe by his exploits. He was a hero, but the only people whose adoration he cared about where his family._

 _Moreover he was a good man who tried his best to bring his people back._

 _"You didn't know they'd bring that Imp-Deuce here this time."_

 _"We should not have been there to begin with. Being in the wrong place at the wrong time seems to be a family curse."_

 _Kawgipi wondered what that was about. She knew that Skywalker's way into the Order had been far from ordinary, but what was that all about? Not that it mattered._

 _If he had been dismissive of her losses or blamed anyone but himself she would have jumped down his throat, Jedi or not, but her was well aware of his failure, so she was prepared to let it go. She knew he hadn't done it on purpose, she knew he wasn't incompetent and she knew that he would do his level best to not let this sort of thing happen again, and in the end, that was enough._

* * *

"So yes, this is beyond our means to repair. It's not so much that we wouldn't have anywhere for [I]Fearless[/I] to dock, it is, but more that we don't have the parts we need. We might try to get them on the black market, but we're victims of our own success here." Kawgipi said, and the Republic Council was silent.

It's eight elected members and those merely sitting in on the meetings contained a few military veterans among them and they knew what the Admiral was on about, but some of the rest of them were not, so she explained.

"Because our only Star Destroyer has been so visible to the galaxy at large, the Empire is having incredibly tight controls on spare parts for Victory-Class ships. They know we desperately need those parts so they try to ensure that we can't just go and buy them. It's probably easier to get a hyperdrive motivator for an Imperial-Class on the black market than a sensor spine for a Victory."

"So we can't get them at all?"

It was Captain Lane, head of Republic Naval Intelligence and defacto head of all Republic intelligence operations answered.

"Well it certainly won't be easy or cheap. Nor particularly safe. The only source I could see would he Hutt space. The Imps are refitting or scrapping first-generation Victories and some of the parts end up at places like Nar Shaddaa or Nal Hutta. Palpatine hates it, but all over the Galaxy these sorts of things tend to fall of the back of a speeder."

"But what's to stop them from betraying us to the Empire? [I]Fearless[/I] is our strongest ship, and they would jump at the chance to take her out while she's helpless."

Padmé Skywalker who at the moment served as something of an Ambassador at large and generally the closest thing to a Diplomatic Service the Republic had at the moment replied.

"The Hutt Council? Nothing." she said, remembering the Senate Incident during the war. "But if we can make any single Hutt an offer that he can't refuse, things are different. We might have to make a few unsavoury choices though, because someone who is going to be willing to risk Imperial anger for profit would almost have to be a criminal in his own right, by our standards as much as those of the Empire."

She sighed and took a deep breath. "My husband had an idea to that effect. He would go to Tatooine and..."

For quickly outlined the plan Anakin had brought to her.

Master Windu was representing the Jedi Council in these meetings, and he was aware of Anakin's chequered history with the planet of his birth. Five years ago he would have been far more worried than he was already, but the Anakin Skywalker of today or even right after Order 66 was a far cry from the emotionally unstable young man he'd been before the Exodus. That didn't mean there were no issues, nor that it would not be intensely difficult on a personal level.

"Senator, do you believe it might work?"

Padmé had learned to ignore that everyone called her by a title she no longer held and instead knotted her hands on the table and looked down at them. It was a good question and one she'd asked herself before.

"He believes it will, and to be honest? I do too. And even if I didn't, it's the approach with the least risk towards our position here. And besides, he owes Anakin one."

Windu wasn't so sure, and made a mental note of sending someone along, not because he thought that Skywalker needed a Chaperone, and he didn't, but to provide a different point of view. He knew who would be perfect for this.

The meeting dispersed some twenty minutes later without a final decision having been made, but Windu knew that it was only a matter of time, because Padmé had been right about one thing, it was their best chance, and Skywalker's idea was their only in into the strange world of the Hutts.

As he was about to leave, he saw that Captain Lane was remaining behind and obviously wanted to talk to him, so he waited until everyone else had filed out of the room. Lane had been leaning against the far wall of the room, and when he came up to the Jedi Master, he brushed some of the dirt of the room's bare stone walls of the arms of his tunic.

"Master Jedi, I have something you... might want to see."

He handed Windu a flimsiplast. It was a two-dimensional representation of a holopicture, and the meomnt he saw what was on it, he knew why this had been brought to his attention. It was taken at a distance, and judging by the pixelated nature of this and the fading colours near the maximum distance of a normal commercial holocam and near the end of the local day. It showed... nothing distinct, if he was to be honest, but the green glow and the shape gave it away.

"A Jedi."

"I believe so too, Master." Lane said, nodding. "Any idea who it is?"

Windu shook his head. Over the last five years a considerable number of Jedi that hadn't made it back to Coruscant when the recall had been sounded had either found their way to Weitun or been killed by Paqua and the Imperial Inquisitors. Yet a disturbingly large number of them was still missing. He knew that some had given up the ways of the Jedi, and he knew of at least one who fought his own war against the Empire on the Rim.

Yet that still lever far too many unaccounted for. The pre-Exodus Jedi Order had been a massive and far-flung organization even without the war, and every Jedi knew how to hide his Force presence, in fact nowadays it was the first thing younglings were taught. A great many Jedi were known to be dead, Masters like Kit Fisto or Luminara Unduli, but the fate of many others had never been discovered. Windu hoped that some of them were still out there somewhere and many had eventually found their way to Weitun over the last few years, but there were ever fewer.

Oh things had improved massively since the Exodus, the Skywalker twins were far from the only younglings born to one or two Jedi going through Youngling training these days, which told everyone that Skywalker was far from the only one who had been challenged by the old code. At the same time the loss of knowledge and experience by those Jedi who had perished or simply disappeared into the bustle of the galaxy was a blow the Order had yet to recover from and sometimes Windu doubted it ever would.

"Not really, Captain." he said aloud even as he continued to study the picture. "I'm afraid a green lightsabre isn't very distinctive, and the rest of this is too dark to tell what form, if any the wielder was using when this was taken."

Lane sighed, he had probably expected as much. "This was taken Trindakaa, a world somewhat like the fourth moon of Yavin. Lots of tropical forrest, old ruins, that sort of thing, except that it's been settled for centuries and that it's something of a trade note near Hutt Space."

Windu frowned. "That's clear on the other side of the Galaxy. Could it be that... person does not know yet that we still exist?"

It was certainly possible. While the Republic didn't exactly keep it's existence secret, they weren't broadcasting it either, and the Empire was certainly not doing it for them. They had yet to publicly acknowledge that the Jedi that so often accompanied the Republic Remnant were more than a few scattered survivours. Even so...

"Well, according to the most popular rumour doing the rounds, we've either made contact with the [I]Outbound Flight[/I] and permanently left the galaxy behind us or we're using [I]Fearless[/I] as a mobile base. Thing is, that Jedi might simply not know for sure and would not want to risk it. Besides, there are more than a few Rebel groups who are utterly cut off from the outside."

"This must certainly be investigated, Captain. I will bring this before the council, but I doubt they will disagree. What else can you tell me?"

"I got that information via the last courier from the Core worlds. Apparently the Imps have taken notice of that group after they blew a local HoloNet relay. Gutsy but stupid, because that was bound to catch Palpatine's attentions. From what I could find out, they normally operate in space, noble pirates if you will. I would have tried to make contact with them, but we have exactly no assets at all that far out and we can't risk Senator Organa on this."

For the next minute Lane outline what little other information he had, and by the time they parted ways, Windu had already decided who to ask to take on this mission. She may have been only back for two days now, but this side of Knight Enwandung Esterhazy Ahsoka Tano was the best scout they had. Windu hoped that she would do this, because he sensed that it was the wish of the Force that she did.

 **tbc**

 **This turned into something different from what the old version of the chapter was..**

 **Anyway, I hope no one minds that I am keeping the exact composition of Red Squadron out of the focus. For one, in this story they don't play a major part (which will change later), and for seconds, I'm being honest and say that I don't have them fleshed out much to begin with. On the other hand I have plans for how the likes of Wedge Antilles, Celchu and the others end up there, and those Red Squadron OCs would probably fade into the background anyway, at least to some extent.**

 **Ehrm... anyway, I'm also basing my depiction of Starfighter Ops on the X-Wing novels.**

 **As for the council, here we're seeing the beginnings of what I have in mind for the Republic in the future.**

 **Republic Council works as follows:**

 **A leader (Speaker of the Council) is elected for no more than two consecutive terms of four years (though he/she may run again no less than two terms later) and appoints the other members who are subject to popular approval. This is of course only for the moment, when the Republic is formally reinstated, it will be changed a lot, especially with the election of a provisional Senate.**

 **Lastly: What the [CENSORED][CENSORED][CENSORED][CENSORED] is up with Star Wars names?**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"Frankly, I'm surprised it took this long for something of this sort to happen." Master Tiin said when they left Olin's quarters where the latter was still applying Bacta spray to a few cuts and bruises. "I would have expected it of Skywalker, but not of Olin."

Neither Mace Windu nor Master Yoda, the only other members of the High Council present on Weitun at the moment were inclined to disagree. For all the emotional maturity Skywalker had reached, some of the things that had apparently been said would have driven most fathers to violence.

"To be fair to Knight Olin, he was trying to break up the fight. That things escalated from there is only partly his fault."

"Try to find a non-violent solution he should have. Problems, he unwillingly created for us."

Master Yoda was right, and they all knew it.

"He meant well, and someone had to end that argument."

"The bigger problem those two are, yes. Do something about them, we must first."

"But what? If we let Olin off with a symbolic punishment it will be as if the Jedi were not equal before our judgement, whatever their ideas for the Order are."

"We have rigorously enforced our rules in the past. Why not now?"

"Hypocritical, it would be, Master Tiin. Free to follow the old ways, any Jedi is."

"But should they be allowed to attack others for following the new Code? If the followers of the old Code merely discussed it with others that would be one thing, but it seems that those the most dedicated tend to like what happened with Olin."

Yoda shook his head. "More to it, there is. Being too outspoken, those two are. Come into conflict with Olin before, they have."

He quickly related what had happened in front of the crystal cave.

No one spoke for a few moments as the Jedi High Council considered the affair.

"This has the chance to blow up into a major scandal."

"It already is one." Windu replied, nodding in the general direction of the town. "Oh for once the publicity is mostly positive towards us. Knight Olin coming to the couple's aid is seen as soundly positive by the general population, but it seems the... Orthodox faction within the Order is stronger than we thought. Now that Olin has more or less declared for the New Code some of them feel betrayed by him because he was supposed to be on their side, while some have, eloquently disguised of course all but accused the Council of manipulating events to our advantage."

It was obvious that the Jedi Master found this whole state of affairs highly distasteful, but everyone present knew that even from a brutally practical point of view the New Code was the way to go forward. One only had to look at the number of Force sensitive children born since the Code had been changed. And the very object of the whole discussion, the Skywalker twins were the best example. Both were exceptionally gifted, with Midichlorian counts as high as their father's and almost bound to be the trailblazers for a whole other kind of Jedi Knight. If they were anything like either of their parents, then woe to the Empire.

That didn't change the basic issue at hand.

"How the Order dealt with these things in the past can't help us. The suppression of dissenting thought is part of what led to us so easily falling pray to Sidious' deceptions. Yet at the same time what the Navy would call the chain of command must be maintained. What's more, those most innocent in all this are bound to be those that suffer the worst."

"So damned if we do, damned if we don't."

Windu sighed. "What we should do is discipline them for something that on the face of it has nothing to do with their beliefs. Frankly what they did is not worthy of a Jedi and they should be punished for 'Conduct unbecoming'. Of course this will only reinforce their righteousness in themselves and their closest friends but it should placate the moderates."

"Fire up the extremists, this will, yes. Know we cannot, how far they will go."

Yoda said nothing else, but all the Matters felt a shiver run down their spine.

"Schism."

Probably the only world other than 'Sith' to make every Master's skin crawl.

"Master Tiin, I doubt things have gone quite this far."

"A possibility it is. Frightening, yes, but possible."

Indeed, it was all too possible. It seemed like the incident had broken a dam. Hemmed in by the growing numbers of Jedi that followed the New Code, those that had so far refused to do so seemed to have latched onto any opportunity to make their displeasure known. Even though it had been only about half a standard day since the incident the 'discussion' and controversy generated by it was epic to behold. The conflict that had simmered under the surface for the last five years because of the constant threat to mere survival seemed to have broken to the fore. Even though no one had yet gone so far as to blame either of the elder Skywalkers for this and for the conflict the more intransigent had themselves created, it was only a matter of time.

Yoda knew that if that happen the dispute would escalate even further. While he did not believe Anakin Skywalker would act with violence or even do much to acknowledge his detractors any more than he'd done already he still was and always would be the symbol and 'cause' of the changes. Generally Anakin Skywalker was known as both the saviour of the Jedi Order and as the cause for the destruction of the old ways.

That the latter was for the most part true only made things worse. Not that the general public, Jedi and non-Jedi alike knew the whole story. Master Kenobi and Skywalker had both told the council much of it, even though Kenobi had outright stated that there were things it was best for no one else to be aware of, inferring that knowing too many details about the future was dangerous. The way he had put it, one day a Jedi might be confronted with a situation or a person he thought 'had' to end or act in a certain way, only for this to have unintended disastrous consequences.

At any rate, knowing what he would have done had he fallen to the Dark Side was at least part of the reason why Skywalker had changed so much and why he exerted himself so much on behalf of the order and why he avoided the public praise and acclaim that came his way because of it. It was the reason why he was so emotive towards the younglings, and why, if that was even possible, his fatherly love was even greater than Yoda would have thought possible.

Anakin Skywalker who had turned out to be a surprisingly generous man all on his own now that most of his days were no longer consumed with keeping a massive secret and obsessing over his visions of the future, saw much of what he did as deserved penance for the cruel and evil deeds of his Dark Side counterpart.

"Inevitable, a schism might be."

"That is the last thing we need. If we weaken the order now..."

"Suppose it goes that far. Can we just let them go? If they go back corewards they might lead the Empire to us."

"Leave they planet, they would not have to. Large, it is. Room for a second settlement it has."

"I believe it is too early to seriously discuss this." Master Tii replied, "what we need to do right now is to defuse the dispute."

Windu nodded in agreement. It was then that he had an idea. "Skywalker is about to leave on his mission, helpfully enough. We were going to send a junior knight with him as backup, but what if we sent Olin instead?"

"Certain you are, yes? Know you do, that like each other they do not."

"Frankly," Windu said bluntly, "they better make this work. If not for themselves then for the good of the Order and the Republic."

* * *

Ahsoka knelt down and hugged both of the twins goodbye.

"Do you really have to go, Soki? You only just came back." Luke asked, lips trembling and clearly close to crying.

"I wish I didn't but I have to, Luke. But I promise I'll be back soon."

It was true. She'd been back for less than a week, but the mission was important, so she'd accepted it instantly.

"Promise?" Leia asked, trying to put up the same fierce and fearless facial expression she'd clearly inherited from her mother.

Ahsoka glanced up to where the twin's parents were standing, and the three adults exchanged a smile.

"I promise, little one." she replied.

As usual, Leia bristled at being called 'little', but instead she hugged her aunt even tighter, closely followed by Luke. Eventually the twins let go and she rose to her feet. Anakin and Padmé scooped up one of their children each.

"Take care of yourself, Snips." Anakin said, taking in the person of his former Padawan, unwillingly comparing her to the young girl she'd been when they had first met. She was a strong, powerful Jedi and far more self-assured. She wore a non-standard dark red and grey Togruta flight suit of which she'd picked up the fabric extruder patterns during her mission to the colony, her lightsabre and modified DC-17 blaster strapped to her belt. Normally this would be joined by the backpack and chestguard that contained the suit's environmental systems and their controls respectively as well as the helmet she kept having to get refitted for her montrals, but she was taking the _Mynock_ so they wouldn't be needed. She would still take them along in one of the storage bays, just in case.

He glanced over at Padmé who shared his amusement at their children's attachment to Ahsoka before looking back.

"You take care of yourself, Snips."

Ahsoka looked back at her former Master. The looks they exchanged were joined by something even deeper through their force bond.

"Of course I will. You know me. Goodbye."

Anakin only nodded, and Ahsoka turned on her heels, walked up the ramp into her shuttle and closed the hatch behind her. She sat down in the pilot's seat and began the system power up sequence, purposefully not looking towards where the Skywalkers were still standing.

" _Mynock_ to Control, request permission to depart."

 _"_ _Permission granted. Good luck out there, Commander."_

She didn't believe in luck but appreciated the sentiment.

"Thank you. _Mynock_ departing."

The Rho-Class shuttle engaged it's repulsor lifts, with Ahsoka taking care not to make the Skywalkers double over. She sent one last reinforcing thought towards Anakin, knowing that he would soon leave on his own mission before steering her shuttle out of the hangar and the atmosphere. Soon she had passed the fleet staging area and was into Hyperspace. Now at last she finally had the leisure to examine all the data the came with her orders.

It seemed that Republic Intelligence had only very limited information. The sector was one near the edge of Hutt space that had seen little fighting during the war, for the most part it had only been the occasional clash between a few patrols here and there. It was suspected that this was due to the relative proximity to Hutt space, with neither side wanting to antagonize the rulers of that section of the Galaxy. The system she was bound for was located just off the Pabol Sleheyron Run, near where where that Hyperspace route was joined by the Durkteel Loop. It would certainly explain the Imperial presence in spite of those factors, given that it was fairly close to Kashyyyk which was the Empire's preferred source for slave workers.

Though why did that Jedi not contact the Republic? She knew of a few cases where the being in question had forsaken the ways of the Force, and some where, initially at least, the Jedi in question had been unaware that the Order still existed, either through sheer isolation or because that Jedi had hidden him or herself so deeply in the Force that he/she simply could not sense the other Jedi any more. All things considered the Lightsabre she'd seen on the picture clearly indicated the latter, even though she wouldn't know for sure until she was there and had started her investigation. She glanced at the timer that showed her ETA for Corellia, the first hop of her journey. There she would refuel, then make her way across the Core Worlds in two more hops and then hopefully to her destination. _Mynock_ was fast, but it would still be some time, so she settled down in meditation.

 **tbc**

 **I've come to realize that at this stage Anakin is pretty much a blank slate for me to do with as I please. So much of how he was and what he did in the Prequels came out of his emotional problems and his unique family status that now that most of this isn't a factor any more.**

 **Obi Wan knowing the gist of what would have happened in the original trilogy beyond what his canon counterpart saw/knew before his death is why I originally had him accompany Anakin to Tatooine. It would have included them revisiting a few of the locations and of course Obi Wan commenting on the atmosphere and crime rate of Mos Eisley. I might still do that at some point anyway, but as I started plotting this story in detail, Olin being the sidekick made more sense.**

 **Also, and I may have said this before, but I always preferred Ewan McGregor's Obi Wan Kenobi, so the picture in my head and the way he acts and talks will always be based on his portrayal of the character. With all due respect for Sir Alec, he couldn't have pulled off the more upbeat, friendly and jokey character Obi Wan is TTL.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

The last time she had been in this situation, Padmé had been forced to buy her own medical droid because she hadn't dared to risk anyone but her closest guards and handmaidens knowing about it. For a few moments she wondered what they were doing right now, even though last she'd heard two years ago was that they had all managed to evade Imperial retribution one way or another.

She was rather more saddened that one again she couldn't share this with her extended family, but now the reasons why were entirely different. And this time she knew that she wouldn't be alone, quite the opposite. During her last pregnancy she had started to avoid the Jedi, ever fearing that someone would sense that the twins were Anakin's children.

This time she had visited the town hospital where Master Che had instantly taken her on as a patient. Not that there was anything wrong with the pre-natal care provided by any MD series Droid, but Master Che had delivered the twins and now wanted to do the same for their next sibling.

Padmé wished that Anakin hadn't left for his mission before she had found out, but at least this time he would not return a hair's breath before the due date and be there for most of it. She knew that Anakin would be so happy, and this time he could and would share it with everyone around him. Not that the child had been planned, like it's older siblings, this one had a mind of it's own from the start. She grinned, realizing that this time she wouldn't have to wear such baggy clothing to hide anything either.

"Allow me to be the first to congratulate you."

"Obi Wan!" she exclaimed happily and turned around, seeing the Jedi Master leaning against the doorframe of the Skywalker quarters. She rose and quickly crossed the room, holding out a hand in greeting. "When did you get back?"

Obi Wan took it in both his own hands, smiling in return. "Only an hour ago. I was told that both Councils will not want to hear my report until tomorrow so I decided to come here instead once I heard."

"How did you find out?" Padmé asked as she motioned for her friend to come in and have a seat.

He sat down in the armchair he liked and smiled. "Padmé, Red Squadron is in the same hangar I used to arrive. You'd think it was their own child. How they found out... someone probably overheard your conversation with Master Che by accident."

She sat down on the sofa next to him and smiled fondly to herself at the way many seemed to be happy for her. As predicted, this was far from universal, but with the symbols for either side of the dispute gone from public view, the discussions had died down. This was further aided by how the worst offenders had been disciplined, not by the civilian authorities since what they had done hadn't actually broken any statutes of the Republic Law Code but rather only the Order's own. What exactly their punishment for 'Conduct unbecoming' would end up being was still in the air, but for the moment they had been confined go quarters while the Jedi Council deliberated things.

"I suppose that's not surprising with what's been going on here when you were gone." Padmé said and involuntarily placed her hands on her still taught mid-section. Obi Wan sensed that she was worried about her children, not for their physical safety but what someone else might say to them.

"Padmè, Luke, Leia are a lot like their parents, and if this one is any like it's siblings... In fact I doubt the galaxy can take yet another Skywalker."

She smiled. Mission accomplished.

"And I'm sure that this one will be an amazingly powerful Jedi as well, and if there is one thing you will never have to worry about is your children's ability to stand up for themselves."

Padmé took his hand in both of hers and was supremely thankful.

No more words needed to be exchanged.

* * *

The _Mynock_ fell out of hyperspace on a vector that indicated that she was coming from somewhere on the Mid Rim, and Ahsoka waited to be queried by Corellian space traffic control before connecting to the local HoloNet. Getting directions to the nearest refuelling point proved to be easy, although she saw at once that she would have to wait for a bit, as it seemed everyone in this part of the system was looking to refuel or trade at the Gus Treta Inner-System Market Station. She queued up for the approach to the station behind a slightly rusty blue-accented YT-1300 and decided that she might as well use the time to buy additional supplies that she hadn't had time to load or that had been unavailable, and of course get a sense of the mood in the system.

Even on a core world there would be enough non-humans for her not to attract undue attention if she kept a low profile, although she would be remembered by the locals because Togruta off the homeworld and their few colonies were rare. As she stepped off the _Mynock_ and past that self-same YT-1300 she realized that the hooded cloak she wore wouldn't stand out much after all, and if it did, she had the best identification files Republic Slicers and their computers could forge, with the kind assistance of the Alderaani Imperial Affairs Department. Still, it was best not to attract any attention in the first place. To that end she endured the mindless waiting as she was processed through customs, hoping that none of the stressed CorSec officers on customs duty suddenly pulled her aside. Not that she was worried she couldn't get away, but she would prefer not to kill most of them in the middle of a crowded station.

First things first. She was here to buy additional supplies but she was also utterly famished, so she decided to find a cantina and something to eat.

The place where she ended up was a mid-level place frequented primarily by non-humans and those humans that were unwilling or unable to pay for anything higher up on the social ladder. She had chosen it for that, but also because it was filled to the brim with people. As she had expected, it was easy to find out the public mood.

Generally it wasn't all that bad, she had to say. Imperial patrols had strangled outright piracy in the region even though smuggling still ran rampant and was probably going through this very station, in part at least. At present Imperial authorities confined themselves to policing the spacelanes leading into the system, leaving the inner space itself to CorSec. Like every other shipbuilding community, Corellia had suffered somewhat from the end of the Clone War but business was picking up again as the Empire had a never-ending hunger for the small and mid-sized vessels the Corellian shipyards produced, thanks to Republic and generally rebel efforts. As a result, the standard of living was fairly high even for a core world and there was little actual dissent.

But Ahsoka knew that this was only the face of it. In reality there was considerable grumbling among some traders about Imperial restrictions on trade with the Outer Rim Territories and the massively increased taxes that had to be paid, in credits, resources and finished products. She knew that there was some sort of Rebel presence here, but nothing more due to the cell structure that was being used in the networks that were being built up in the core. She knew though that penetrating into the Core Worlds would be difficult, because for all the dissent that existed here, Alderaan was the only world where anything like the majority of the population would support the Republic if an open uprising were to break out tomorrow, however doomed that would be.

She was convinced that sooner or later the Empire would begin to alienate all but the most loyal or affluent of it's subjects, but it would take some time. At the moment it was smart to concentrate most of the Republic's efforts where they could do the most good.

Ahsoka was seated in the far corner from the entrance, so it was all but impossible for her to overlook the family as they walked in. Human, the father had light brown hair, with who Ahsoka presumed to be his wife and their young son having raven black hair. She grinned and watched out of the corner of her eyes how the family sat down in the booth next to hers, so she couldn't help overhearing. The boy was sullen, and didn't even react when his mother tried to engage him. Ahsoka could hear her sigh.

"She'll be back Wedge, I promise."

"Mom, she left without even saying goodbye to me."

The pain felt by the parents over 'her' leaving was evident, and their emotions rolled off them in waves, Ahsoka couldn't help sensing it in the Force. She decided that it was not her place to listen in, but she sensed that Wedge was someone to keep an eye on, so she stayed where she was.

"I'm sure this was as hard for her as it is for you."

"You think so?" Wedge replied with venom in his voice. "If she cared so much, she could have at least left me a damn message."

"Language!" his father said, before sighing. "Wedge, there's nothing we can do. If your sister wants to talk to us, she will. If not, then..."

"Then she can go to all hells for all I care."

Ahsoka could almost picture to pained expression on the parent's faces and the spiteful way in which Wedge sat there, arms probably crossed and looking at everyone but his parents.

The father sighed again. "Wedge, please. At least try to not hate your sister."

"I don't CARE!"

Another sigh.

"I'll let you fly the shuttle."

The current of emotions changed, with pained acceptance taking over from the mother and sudden elation from Wedge. Now there was a born pilot it seemed, and Ahsoka couldn't help but wonder how the boy might get on with Anakin.

"Really?"

"Really. Come on now, Wedge. Smile, for your mother."

At that point Ahsoka decided enough was enough and motioned for the server droid. She paid a few credits and rose to her feet. As she walked past the family, she couldn't help but glance at them, and for a moment her eyes met those of Wedge. Somehow she knew that they would both remember this encounter.

She didn't learn that his last name was Antilles until she refuelled at the station run by his parents.

 **tbc**

 **In many AUs the twins remain the only Skywalker kids, which I think would not have happened. That's not to say there would be a whole football team, which is the other extreme, but three is a compact size, I think.**

 **The latter half of this chapter started out as just a cameo, but it kinda grew. Originally Wedge was only supposed to appear as that Cameo, but I had that idea and went with it. Besides, I needed to set up future events anyway at some point. I deliberated for hours if I should let Ahsoka and Wedge exchange a few words, but in the end decided against it. Suffice it to say, both of them won't remember this encounter right away when they next meet, but there will be a 'where do I know that face from' thing going when they do. Suffice it to say, he will end up commanding Rogue Squadron, but the way there... oooooh boy.**

 **On an unrelated note: I've read a fanfiction where an an elderly AU Anakin is partaking in Obi Wan's funeral (decades in the future, mind) and I think it's Luke remarks on how his father had changed. Anakin then replies that because of his Force Bond with Obi Wan and because it was so close, in a real sense a part of him had died. I think this might be why in ANH Obi Wan was so different from the prequels, aside of course from the different actors and what not.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Sand, sand and even more sand. That was the first and probably most lasting impression Olin had of Tatooine, that and the heat. Small wonder Skywalker was known to complain about the weather all the time, and small wonder he'd been so aghast at the splendour of Coruscant. Knowing intellectually what a planet was like and then actually being there were two entirely different things.

Skywalker had not spoken a single word during their voyage through Hyperspace, he was clearly uncomfortable returning here, and Olin was even more determined to find out what was going on. The first words he had spoken since leaving Weitun was when he had requested permission to land from the local authorities. They came into Mos Eisley to land at Docking Bay 94, and without even acknowledging Olin's presence, Anakin shut down the engines, locked out the computer and walked off the small ship. Olin collected his own belongings and followed. Their cover story was they were here to scout trading opportunities for trade with especially the local moisture farmers, but going by the lax way the sorry excuse for local customs was handled, he doubted that it was necessary. Even the local Imp garrison had exactly no Stormtroopers among it, instead relying on what were probably second or third rate troops and the usual misfits.

"Where to?" he asked. Skywalker looked around a bit.

"The cantina is over there, but we won't have to go there. The music is awful. We... we need to get transport- there is a dealership over there."

The plan was to buy one, as it created less of a paper trail, even here on Tatooine as used speeder dealers were far more likely to take cash and no questions asked as they had no interest in getting back their merchandise. Afterwards they were to meet with a contact and decide their further proceedings. It was very possible that Jabba was not present on Tatooine at the moment, something that Republic Intelligence had been unable to really determine, but he usually was around at this time of the Hutt year.

As they passed through the outskirts of the town, Olin saw that it was riddled with crime to the point where there was spice trading on the open street, within full view of the Imperials, which led him to believe that they were either bought off or already so jaded that they did not care. With anyone else in the speeder Olin would have tried to speculate on why that was in spite of the threat posed by the sand people. Or because of it? There was the possibility that the reason why the Empire had yet to squash the threat lay in the substandard quality of the troops stationed here, and given by how they acted, or failed to to so.

Oddly enough it was Skywalker who broke the silence when the buildings were long behind them and the endless desert landscape had taken over.

"The salesman said that the Tusken Raider territory begins with the Western Dune Sea, south-west of the Jundland Wastes, so we should avoid that area."

"Where does our contact wait for us?"

"Anchorhead."

Olin consulted his Datapad and frowned. "That's clear the other way from Jabba's Palace!"

Skywalker sighed. "Believe me Olin, I don't want to go down there any more than you do, but that's where he's supposed to meet us. The Tuskens won't attack us there... probably, but you should never underestimate their treachery."

It was odd for Skywalker to despise someone so, but maybe it was because he had grown up here, and because the history of the Tatooine residents with the Tuskens was not a good one. That much he knew.

"Any idea who he is?"

"None."

Neither Jedi spoke as the speeder raced south, the Monotony only broken by the occasional rockface stabbing out of the everpresent sand.

"What's that?" Olin asked suddenly when he spotted smoke on the horizon. Skywalker frowned.

"Unless something changed, there are no settlements over there."

The sense of death both Jedi felt through the Force was overwhelming, so there was no discussion when Skywalker gunned the throttle and changed course towards the smoke.

The Jawa Sand Crawler was on fire from front to end, which explained the smoke. It was surrounded by Banthas and the inevitable Tusken raiders. Olin was astonished when Skywalker didn't even bother to stop the speeder and jumped off it and into the middle of the Tusken group, sabre alight. He slashed around himself, attacking the Tusken with a fury that Olin had never seen, but what happened next amazed him even more. The Tusken slowly backed away from the figure with the blue lightsabre, but it seemed that they were more scared of it than of Skywalker. Odd to say the least.

Skywalker too seemed to be surprised by this as well, he remained weary and only shut off his sabre when the last of the Tusken had mounted their beasts and was out of range of their primitive rifles.

"What was that all about?" Olin asked.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say they were raiding for supplies. But this is unusual, because they would never attack anything this large. Going by how they seem to have stopped it... that fire was too precise for Tuskens. It's the sort of thing I'd expect from a Stormtrooper." He utterly ignored that Olin was talking about something else entirely.

Instead, Skywalker clipped his sabre back to his belt and closed his eyes, visibly fighting for emotional composure, in a way Olin hadn't seen since the War.

"We need to bury them by their rites."

Olin didn't bother saying that they had someone to meet, nor did he wonder if that would include the Tuskens Anakin had slain. So they went to work.

Skywalker surprised him when he personally added the dead Tuskens to their own funeral fire, showing remorse had having to kill them. Might this even have something to do with why everyone was worried about his returning here?

An hour later they were back on the move, neither saying a word. Skywalker poured it on, as they had to reach Tosche Station before dark.

The town itself turned out to be a collection of buildings in the Tatooine style and Olin doubted that it would be easy to find quarters there. Skywalker had briefed him on where they were to meet their contact, behind one of the cantinas that served the town. Neither knew exactly who their contact was, but Intelligence had arranged a signal and countersign. Said contact was supposed to have arranged for quarters and more accurate intelligence on Jabba's movements.

Anchorhead was less crime-ridden than the other settlements on the planet, and had grown significantly, according to Skywalker. That was probably because of the Imperial compound a few miles south of the town, which was supposed to secure the region against Tusken attacks but apparently did a poor job of it at the moment. The city itself was fairly light on stormtroopers on patrol, most of the Imperials here enjoyed what passed for shore leave and the 'nightlife' such as it was catered to them. Still, there was enough local traffic out of the brand-new space port for two additional spacers not to attract any attention.

Skywalker needled the speeder into the back-alley. From their perspective the bulding that contained the Cantina was backlit by the holosigns on the front, and between two dumpsters filled with refuse that neither Jedi cared to examine any closer stood a hooded figure. In the dim light of the damaged streetlights the figure stepped forward.

"Elek Sato, I presume?"

"Simo Deccol at your service."

Sign and countersign had been exchanged properly, so the Jedi slightly relaxed their vigilance.

"Now I didn't expect them to send you, Anie. You swore you'd never come back here."

Skywalker furrowed his brows, clearly trying to place the voice. When he did, he smiled for the first time since setting off for Tatooine. "Kitster Banai, is that you?"

The man smiled. "Yeah."

Skywalker stepped forward and hugged Banai, who had to be an old childhood friend. "So what turned you into a seditious element?"

Banai's face darkened. "Later. First I have to get you off the streets."

Skywalker's friend led them to the edge of town, into one of the older, poorer sections and the sort of hut that section of the population inhabited, one central area and three rooms going off to the side. Seated along the table, Banai began to brief them.

"Your timing could be better. Jabba isn't here at the moment, but he's slated to return in a few days. He was off to the homeworld, so there's no telling what mood he's in. Probably not a very good one, given that the Tuskens have resisted all his attempts to buy them off."

"Have things gotten that bad?" Skywalker asked.

"Probably worse. Normally the Tuskens are too primitive to go for this sort of thing, but given how they've started to consolidate their lands and behave more like a proper, unified army rather than a pack of thieving nomads he probably thought it was worth the try."

"I thought so." he said and related what had happened with the crawler.

Banai frowned. "That's bad, Ani. Either one of the tribes acted against whoever is calling the shots back there and we find their corpses outside the town in a day or two, or the Tuskens are pushing against the settled areas."

"That has happened before?"

Olin was far too fascinated at how Skywalker seemed to have changed to partake in the conversation. His dislike of the Tusken was still evident in the way he talked, but it wasn't the hatred Olin had come to expect. His reply to the prospect of a massacred tribe of Tuskens was... repugnance, not at the Tuskens as a whole but at the idea of them being all killed or reasons that were beyond trivial by his standards. Then why had he reacted as he had to the incident on the way here?

"About a year ago, yes." Banai said with a nod. He bared his teeth and shook his head. "Last time this happened the Imps bombed the nearest of their villages out of existence."

"For Jawas?"

"No," came the reply with the shake of his head, "not because it was Jawas, but because it was only an hour out of Mos Eisley. Since then they haven't dared go out of the Dune Sea."

"Force Kit, someone is leading them, and not bad at all, it seems."

"The Imps officially deny it, but that's exactly what's going on. They have been acting odd since just before the Clone War."

"How so?"

"Just before first Geonosis something happened that made the Tuskens withdraw deeper into the Dune sea than anyone can remember. No one saw hide nor hair of them for three years."

"Why was that?"

Olin was so astonished that he nearly fell off his chair. Skywalker's voice was inquiring and betrayed nothing to anyone who didn't know him very well and was not a Force user. To Olin however his mental defences slipped for just a second, and Olin sensed a flash of revulsion, regret and disgust. And...guilt! What was more, not something he had experienced per say, although there was some of that, but something he had done. What on Earth could Skywalker have done that would drive a people like that? It certainly was something of a nature that those around him had a desire to keep secret, and all of a sudden Olin was angry, not at Skywalker but rather at the Council. They were so unwilling to risk a Scandal to their precious hero that they kept something like this secret, and once more Skywalker was getting away with it.

Now what?

The mission came first of course, but what would he do afterwards? He knew that he would have to confront Skywalker over this, before they were gone from this planet.

 **tbc**

 **Ahsoka's part in this Episode is supposed to be the main plot, so if I follow my outline, we won't revisit Tatooine for a few chapters.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Trindakaa was a system like a million others. Nine planets, of which only two could support life and only one was settled. The planet that shared the system's name was indeed a lot like Yavin IV, but about a third of it was covered by rolling hills and grasslands. The primary city, the largest settlement in the system and named Kantana after the ship that had brought the first, exclusively human colonists here housed some twenty million inhabitants, with maybe four that many in smaller settlements and villages dotted all over the northern arboreal grasslands.

The system had once had a thriving economy, exporting first-grade nerf-meat to the core worlds as well as a plethora of agricultural products, but the true wealth of this system had always been it's massive, partly-automated mining operations as well as a budding ship-building industry. Until, that is, it drew the attention of the CIS military during the war. Republic and Separatist forces had clashed here several times, and the system had never recovered from it, with the rests and refuse of the once thriving mining operations littered the asteroid belts and the non-inhabited planets. As she slowly navigated her way through the wreckage, Ahsoka was sure that there was still damage from when Trindakaa had been caught in the crossfire of the two fleets.

Nearly a quarter of the population had died, and those able to had left the world soon after both fleets had departed. Many were stuck, and tried to rebuild their world, while others had turned to piracy, preying on the few shuttles and ships that came here, as well as the growing criminal element that used the chaotic world as a refuge. She knew that the Imp Fleet Almanach listed this system as 'currently under control by local elements' but judging by a timestamp two years old, the Empire didn't care much about the system now that it didn't really produce anything useful. But it hadn't ended there. The original colonists had recruited themselves from several worlds on the mid and outer Rims, which had led to social and economic divisions on Trindakaa. Before the Clone War this had been papered over by the wealth of that world, where even the poorer strata of society lived better than many on other worlds, but the economic collapse had ripped those divisions open, and for the last six years the world had been engaged in a brutal multi-sided civil war that saw almost every kind of conceivable war crime.

The Ion cannon blast missed the _Mynock_ only barely and still came by close enough to nearly fry her shields. The second one was aimed perfectly, but Ahsoka's Jedi reflexes allowed her to dive away from the plane of flight while at the same time activating the automatic aiming systems of the twin turbo-laser turret on the shuttle's spine began to spit out blue bolts at unseen attackers, while the chin turret, tied into her pilot's headseat began to turn along with her head.

She glanced at her sensor readouts, and saw that the opposition clearly were pirates, because no one else would be crazy enough to fly uglies made from parts of Genosian fighters and V-19s. Even though she had personally calibrated the targeting software, the computers couldn't keep up with the twists and turns she flew to avoid the incoming fire and the wreckage. She intentionally headed in towards the thickest part of the old battlefield to throw them off. One of them was hit by some armour plating from a Venator that sliced off it's port wing and engine, sending the contraption cartwheeling along it's central axis and straight into what remained of that same Venator's bridge tower. Two of it's mates barely managed to avoid the explosion, but to do that, they had to fly on a predictable path for a few seconds, and that was enough for a stream of blasts from the rapid-fire laser cannons to connect with one of them.

Ahsoka's computers were only a millisecond too slow to hit the third ugly, but she had enough. She pushed the _Mynock_ into a sudden stop, reversed engines and aimed the chin turret at where she knew the third attacker would pass her. Split-seconds later, the last ugly appeared and Ahsoka fired. The bolts were not as powerful as those of her turret, by the blaster fired even quicker and six hits burnt through the armour, destroyed the drive system and detonated one of the tibanna tanks that fed the craft's weapons.

No further attackers, but Ahsoka was certain that they had a shuttle here somewhere, meant to sift through her carcass and take in any loot she might leave behind, but now... It was time to get out. She wasn't really looking forward to visiting the planet, but the mystery Jedi had last been seen here. The problem was... where to start? Little information was known. The picture had been taken on the planet and near the capital of one of the statelets that had formed out of the ashes of the planet's unified government, but that was about it. Lane had been unable to determine exactly where nor by whom. As she steered towards the planet at near maximum sublight, she considered that this was an excellent place for a rebel group to hide. She doubted that it was on the planet itself, but since it, along with most of the sector, had been cut off from the HoloNet, it was the place to get information.

It was also one of the places that still had something that could be called a functioning government and economy, though to be fair, that didn't mean much around here. Of course since there was no functioning central government, no space traffic control challenged her. Re-entry into the atmosphere went without problems. To avoid the fighting, she stayed away from land and over the various connected oceans for as long as she could, and approached her destination from the sea, flying into the local sunrise. Only then was she challenged by local traffic control and it seemed they bought her cover identity. She was directed towards a 'spaceport' that consisted of little more than a wide expanse of ferrocrete and an improvised control centre built out of a few freight containers. She knew why when she passed over the blasted out rubble of the old facility.

She landed the _Mynock_ at the appointed spot and shut down all her systems. She donned a cloak that disguised her rather distinctive appearance and exited the shuttle after taking what little of her possessions she'd need. The security systems aboard rivalled those of an Imperial secure transport, so she wasn't worried about anything she'd leave behind.

Ahsoka had also considered what happened next.

The customs officer was a human about her own size, but where she had the muscular and lean build that came with the life she led, the officer was almost as wide as he was tall and it showed on the fleshy, red skin of his face. His form almost popped out of the old Republic Customs Service uniform he was wearing.

"This your shuttle?"

Ahsoka handed him the forged identity without a word. She knew that the ID would hold up to all but the most thorough background checks, and yet the officer shook his head.

"These are no good, Ma'am."

She suppressed a sigh, knowing where this was going.

"Of course, I could fix this for a certain fee."

Talk about being unsubtle. Not wanting to be bothered by this greedy little man, Ahsoka reached out into the force.

"My ID is in order." she said, waving her hand in front of his face.

As expected, he was weak-minded. "Your ID is in order."

"I do not need to pay any fees and you and your men have no interest in this shuttle."

"You do not need to pay any fees, and me and my men have no interest in this shuttle."

"I can go about my business."

"You can go about your business."

"Move along."

"Move along, move along."

Ahsoka smirked and left without further words, pulling the hood of her cloak to disguise her not exactly common features and set about her mission. The spaceport was nearly deserted and had clearly seen better days. As had the entire system, but as she stepped through the spaceport terminal's cracked, now only manually operable glass doors and out onto the streets, she could see with her bare eyes that the people around here still tried to make the best of it. A vendor with a hand-pulled cart just beside the entrance sold local fruits, and she could smell what she knew to be roasting Nerf meat from a cantina a few blocks down the street. Suddenly she was hungry.

* * *

At the same time someone else was seeking the same target. Darth Paqua had parked _Iron Fist_ on the edge of the system, far away from what little interstellar traffic touched this forlorn piece of space. Sometimes, on a task such as this one she preferred the sort of anonymity and freedom of movement going in alone would give her. The Inquisitors and the Stormtrooper escort could be summoned to come to her assistance and be anywhere on the planet within minutes, so she didn't feel the need to bring them along right away. What helped was that the population was human for the most part and that she could blend in easily.

Ozzel was as usual too far away from true sentience to understand why she sometimes preferred subtler approaches than just smashing in the door and shooting everything that moved. She had certainly considered just doing a Base Delta Zero on the planet to be sure, but had then considered that if said Jedi really was hiding in this region, he or she was mobile and could not be assured to be on the planet. Besides, wanton destruction for it's own sake was not something she did. She could and had killed often enough in service of the Emperor and who opposed him did forfeit his life, but there were more taxes to be had from living subjects.

Not that this planet would generate much. She made a mental note to ensure that the Navy cleaned up this place at some point lest it develop into another Nar Shadaa, but right now it suited her purpose just fine. Paqua had arrived in a Lambda-Class shuttle which was now hidden in the woods a dozen or so kilometres north of the city and guarded by her escort. It hadn't taken her long to make her way here and now she was searching for any clue as to where that Jedi might be hiding. Like any great mass of beings, the city generated a plethora of force activity even by those not directly touched by it. It might have been because of this that she didn't notice it at first over the background din of life and death on this planet. In war, the Force was almost pungent with the death of sentient beings, but she knew that she should have noticed it earlier.

It was the faintest of tremors in the Force.

But it was enough for Paqua to know that she was on the right track. There was a strength and definitive manner to it that made it obvious that the origin was a trained force user, and a powerful one.

She had to admit, hiding in the masses was smart. She was convinced that at least a few Jedi had never even made it of Imperial Centre and were still roaming the lower levels of the city, although she had yet to find any of them. The Emperor wasn't entirely convinced of all of this but he was astute enough to realize that he couldn't afford to entirely discount the possibility.

Of course on planets like this hiding was easier by simple virtue of the Vaccination Initiative did not have any offices here.

So who was this Jedi?

By the way the presence had been disguised and the signature had felt, this Jedi was very powerful indeed, and very well trained. Not one of the many that had the ability and never been discovered by the Order in the past. Despite what the Council had made everyone think, only maybe third of all potential Jedi were ever discovered, most of the rest had and still did live their lives utterly unaware of anything being special about them, some knew they had odd abilities and used them as everything from fortune-telling to being exceptionally gifted conmen. Their signatures were distinctive but you really had to go out and look for them since the difference that the presence of a force user like herself had to those of normal sentients was caused primarily by the training she'd had and the way she used her abilities.

This one... it could not be a normal Jedi. In a way the signature reminded her of Skywalker, but it was different enough to make her believe it was not him. Too bad, since she was looking forward to fighting him.

It wasn't anyone she was familiar with, but that wasn't saying much considering the time she had spent away from the Order before becoming a Sith and the time that had passed since the pacification of Coruscant.

At any rate, what mattered was that said Jedi was on the same planet and within the same city.

If she hadn't found him in three days, then the gloves would come off.

 _Iron Fist_ had a large enough complement of stormtroopers from the 501st aboard to occupy this city and then some, but the Victory-Class design was reaching it's development limits. She knew that the Kuat Drive Yards had an Imperial-Class ship in the final fitting out stages that would carry on the name, after testing it's weapons systems on the old one. But for the moment, the ship would suffice, certainly to take down a lone Jedi.

 **tbc**

 **In a conversation with a friend I described the planet as "early 90s Balkans in SPAAACE" in not quite those words. It's a good analogy though. The thing about the new _Iron Fist_ is something I thought of while writing this chapter, so I put it in at a place where it doesn't really fit, sorry.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Ahsoka had adopted the cover story of being a bounty hunter on the lookout for a human male, Corellian, brown hair, brown eyes, known to be a fast talker and ladies man. The supposed scoundrel was wanted for the theft of light-sabre components and ancient Ryloth Slave collars, travelling on a modified freighter with a Wookie for a sidekick.

She didn't know where the last part had come from, but it ensured that people constantly denied having seen anyone, if they talked to her to begin with and passed everything on. Sooner or later the criminal element would come crawling out of the woodwork, but hopefully it would also come to the ears of those she was trying to reach. If there was a rebel movement on this planet, then lightsabre components had to be raising red flags, because even out here everyone knew that the Emperor was trying to corner the market on them, as it were. It was an ongoing issue for the Order, because as yet some components could not be manufactured locally.

The slave collars... they were something she'd added on a whim, mostly because slavery and it's implements were, officially at least, the sole purview of the Empire. It was all a part of her personality as a bounty hunter who cared only for the credits the job brought.

People were just a little less reluctant to talk to her that way, given that the perception most people had of bounty hunters included them not being nice to people that annoyed them, doubly so on a planet that was covered in a civil war that was set to last decades by the looks of it. Of course since the quarry she sought did not exist and even the bogus hints made for the few credits she would give in return didn't really matter. The least-time approach to getting anything done here was to get the local criminal element to do her work for her.

In that sense she had failed after about a day of searching, but she'd been the lowest sort of dive you found on the lower levels of Coruscant, but she had yet to see any sort of reaction from the locals. In need of a break, she had decided to further scout the local situation and had gone into one of the more respectable establishments that catered to what passed for the middle class on this planet.

As usual, cantinas were the best place to pick up on rumours.

The planet seemed to have a pirate problem, that much she was aware of. What was new to her was that rumours were making the rounds that a rebel cell was rumoured to be using the chaos on this world to hide its presence, apparently hoping that it's activities in the surrounding systems and long the hyperspace routes were lost in the shuffle.

While on the whole a good idea, Ahsoka knew that they would have to be careful not to be too successful lest they attract Imperial attentions. Still, this was probably the best lead she'd had so far and she began to wonder why she had not adopted this approach to begin with. But Anakin had taught her to use such opportunities as they presented themselves. So she slowly shuffled closer to the two farm workers discussing this under the guise of getting another drink at the bar.

But there was a little more than that. The rebel group was supposedly located in three different places in the eastern mountains that shielded the statelets borders in that region, and fighting still raged in parts of that area where the last remnants of some political dissident group or other was being mopped up. In short, a very dangerous area indeed.

Not that Ahsoka was worried. She had been through plenty of dangerous spots during the war and since, being Rebel Scum wasn't exactly a safe way to spend one's days.

There would have to be proof of some sort for this, something tangible, because she couldn't afford to waste time on this. Rumours seemed to be everything she had to go on, and she had a deep sense of foreboding about this whole thing. With an impatient but silent sigh she threw enough credit chips for three times the booze she had consumed on the table and left the cantina. She did not notice that she was being followed by someone.

In a store she purchased a topographical map of the continent that was far more detailed than the one she'd pulled off the HoloNet before setting off on this mission and viewed it on her datapad. The region where the rebels seemed to be operating from according to the stories was not all that far away, but as she studied the increasingly decrepit road network in that area she sensed that taking the shortest route would be the most dangerous. Yet taking it off-road risked getting hit by the locals and she couldn't really afford the delay, not to mention that she would rather not get involved in the petty squabbles that had done so much harm to this world.

A fast speeder was what she needed. Earlier that day she'd seen an X-34, the closed cockpit variant, standing on the lot of a vendor who sold used speeders. She felt bad about having to steal it, but she couldn't afford to leave even more of an electronic trail for someone to follow, not when it was possible that she was getting closer to her target. The security measures around the fence and inside the speeder itself were laughably easy to beat, and Ahsoka noted that no one seemed to be bothered by her taking a speeder without paying. Crime seemed to be even more rampant than at first glance.

When she left the environs of the city behind and sped along the pockmarked and damaged ferrocrete surface of the road she saw a second speeder following the same stretch of road and keeping a distance that made it possible that it was entirely accidental. And yet, deep-seated caution induced by years of covert operations made her reach out in the Force, and when she sensed who flew that vehicle, she had to deliberately keep herself from going off-course. It could not be, and yet the Force had not misled her yet.

Two things could be the cause of this, either she was being followed for her bounty hunter cover or she was being followed because it was what she was looking for. Either way, she needed to get that person somewhere where she was in control of the situation.

Even with a fast speeder in reasonably good repair such as this one the transit to the region took her several hours.

Eventually she stopped her speeder next to an abandoned farm that had seen all but one of the buildings destroyed. It was the perfect place, so she hopped out and walked towards the damaged droid maintenance shed.

As soon as she was through the crack in the wall, she moved aside, looking for a way to the second level of the decrepit building. The wrecked droid maintenance supports were covered by layers of dust and bits of the ceiling, but with force-jumps she managed to bypass the destroyed staircase and hid behind the heat exchange valve of an automatic welding machine. Just as she had expected, the tall figure of the being tailing her coming in soon.

Ahsoka thought it was a testament to his skills that she hadn't spotted him sooner, after all Wookies weren't exactly inconspicuous. She recognized him in spite of all the years that had passed and rose to her feet.

"Fancy seeing you here, Chewbacca."

((I did not know it was you, young one.))

"I gathered that." she replied and jumped down from her perch. She approached Chewbacca and looked up at him.

"So why did you follow me?"

((I heard that someone was looking for Ryloth Slave Collars and even though this bounty hunter asking around about them turned out not to be a slaver, I figured that he would lead me to the people I was looking for.))

"And then you would... remove the bounty hunter from the equation, and do whatever it is you came here to do with the slavers."

Chewbacca nodded. ((Indeed. And you are probably looking for either the local rebels or the Jedi, I take it?))

Ahsoka showed little surprise. "Of course there wouldn't be a reason for a Jedi to come here other than that."

((Maybe we can assist each other. If you help me with what I have to do, I will help you with your mission.))

She was unsure. Chewbacca was certainly trustworthy, but could she afford to be distracted from her mission?

((If it is going to be any sort of incentive, what I am here to do is this...))

When he had told her of what he was here to do there was no question at all of her helping him.

((About seventy clicks from here, at the edge of the mountains there is a compound, probably an old facility of the planetary defence forces. Doesn't really matter. What does is that they take prisoners from all the factions and even some off-world captives and sell them to the Empire as slaves.))

Ahsoka wasn't speechless. Sadly this sort of thing happened all the time these days. Now of course there was no question of her not accepting this offer.

"How did you find out about that?"

Chewbacca gave what was a smile for his species. ((Everyone has his sources, Jedi. But let us just assume that this isn't the first shipment of slaves I have traced.))

That he had attacked and liberated said shipments went unsaid, but Ahsoka was certain that was what had happened. She'd known that Chewbacca was wanted by the Empire for it, having seen the wanted posters and heard the rumours floating around. It was not that surprising given what the Empire was doing to his home world on a regular basis.

She didn't have to use her Jedi powers to know that Chewbacca at least suspected that she was with a certain elusive rebel group on the Rim. In turn Chewbacca was sure to be experienced and smart enough to know that Ahsoka in turn could not reveal where she had spent the years since they had last met.

The two seized each other up, Ahsoka taking in the Wookie she'd met only once before but who had made a lasting impression, Chewbacca considering the changes in the young Padawan who was now a confident and probably very strong Jedi.

((How many of you made it off Coruscant?))

"Who says that I was there to begin with?"

Chewbacca smiled. ((Nothing, really. But rumour has it that at least one of the leaders of a certain rebel group that operates all over that part of the Outer Rim is Togruta. I would also believe that someone such as you would found her own rebel group instead of looking to join one if she was operating alone. You're just not the type, young one.))

That much was true. She wasn't the type to play hanger's on or act as some sort of super spy from the shadows.

So instead of telling Chewbacca a lie Ahsoka grinned and shook her head. "Well, you seem to have all the information you need. Now, in return I would want to say that your hunt of slavers seems to be going just fine."

((Fine enough. Chewbacca replied and sighed. The problem is that I am too well known on my homeworld and a Wookie stands out too much if he goes elsewhere.))

Ahsoka knew better than to offer him a place with the Republic, even though she was authorized to do so, at least on her own responsibility. Instead she clipped her lightsabre back to her belt.

"Let's get to it then. We both have something the other needs."

((Very well.))

* * *

The Jedi was once more in hiding. She had returned to this miserable world with her group, only to find that things hadn't improved in their absence. Quite the opposite, as it was hard to miss the Star Destroyer orbiting one of the outer planets. She probed into the force and though she did not sense anything specific, she had a bad feeling, and that was it. Her location was remote, yet the local wildlife ensured that she would remain hidden in the background of the planet's own living Force.

Slowly the tendrils of her presence sought out the others trained in the ways of the Force. Yet try as she might, she was unable to determine where that dark presence was coming from and who originated it, but...

The presence was very carefully hidden, and any less experienced Jedi or indeed anyone less familiar with that presence would have missed it since it was very carefully hidden, but to her it was there all the same. A bright, shining beacon of light in the darkness that enshrouded this planet. So familiar, and yet so different from the last time she had felt it.

Confidence, self-confidence and... happiness, the knowledge that the owner of that presence was not alone.

Not something that she would associate with Ahsoka Tano, not considering the circumstances they had last seen each other under. The Jedi knew that what had happened in the aftermath of the Temple bombing was to a great part her own fault, and she blamed herself for it. It was part of the reason why she did what she was doing and why she had cut herself off from the Force in this way.

That Tano of all people would be among the few Jedi to survive the purges wasn't all that surprising. The Empire may have wiped out those at the Temple and hunted down the Jedi in the Galaxy at large, but Tano had not been with the Order and probably just been far enough removed from events to slip beneath the Empire's scopes.

She was tempted to seek her out, but... no. She had a task to perform. If it was the wish of the Force that they should meet, then it would happen.

 **tbc**

 **Chewbacca appearing in some fashion this early was something I wanted to do for the longest time. It's also kind of important to the plot later on in regards to a certain Corellian smuggler. It's also why I had Ahsoka learn Shyriiwook back in Episode II.**

 **Also, in the future, when someone speaks Shyriiwook or any other non-Basic language that the Point of View Character understands, in this case Ahsoka, I would normaly be using those sideways chevron thingys, but apparently FFnet doesn't support those, and to denote it as non-Basic speech. Instead (( and )) will be used. As for why I use actual speech with Chewie.. well, one thing that bugged me about Legends EU was that all too often they ditched chances at character development for sake of not writing his dialogue, making it necessary to do hackneyed and stiff "Yes, I know he did X." or other lines of that sort, such as Han's line about Imperial design priorities for shuttles in ROTJ. While it kinda works in movies (being kept to a certain minimum), it always grated on me in books, especially the Han Solo Trilogy. The Black Fleet Crisis novels did it better.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Anakin awoke with a start and found himself back in the Tatooine hovel he and Olin had rented. He was covered with sweat and he knew that he had dreamt again.

The last time this had happened...

But unlike then he couldn't remember anything. He knew that it was a good sign, that his dreams were normal. Or as normal as they could be. And yet, he felt hemmed in in the tiny little hut, as if something was crushing him. So he rose and was out the door before the he had stopped shaking.

Outside he found the two speeder bikes they had bought. They had initially wanted to buy a single landspeeder, but the two bikes had turned out to be cheaper than the single, beat and probably stolen G-17, so they had taken them instead.

He had given them a quick one-over, so he knew that they both ran and that the one he ended up taking tonight had a smaller actuator. It might not be as quick to accelerate, but he would eat his lightsabre if it wasn't faster in the end.

At any rate, he hopped on, kicked the machine to life and set off into the night.

Anakin didn't really watch or even notice where he was going but when his bike coasted to a stop next to the Lars homestead, a small, detached part of his mind realized that this moment had probably been inevitable since he'd set foot on this planet.

He sensed that the occupants of the farm were still asleep, but he noted with a thin smile that the count seemed to have increased since he'd last been here.

But he wasn't here to visit them, though right then and there he promised himself that he would visit them before leaving this ball of dirt, hopefully for the last time.

Anakin became increasingly desperate as he searched the flat plains around the farm for the small mound he knew had to be there, and the sense of relief he felt when he spotted the small gravestone that marked the place he was looking for.

"Mother..."

As he stood at his mother's grave, he didn't know what to say. So he just sat down, staring at the evidence of his biggest failure.

Slowly his eyes drifted shut.

Only to be immediately open again when he heard the impossible.

"Oh Annie..."

He perked up and when he saw who had spoken.

The Force Ghost of his mother sat cross-legged next to the grave, looking at him with the motherly eyes he'd allways seen on her when he had hurt himself as a child. His heart melted at the sight.

"Mother I'm... I'm so sorry."

She smiled. "Whatever for, Anie?"

Incredulously, he looked at the apparition that looked like his mother.

"For not being there in time. For not saving you."

Anakin expected many things in response, but the smile he'd missed so much was not it.

"Anie, I don't blame you for that. How could I? You came as soon as you could."

Something broke in him. He knew he didn't deserve her kindness.

"I FAILED YOU!" he wailed out of the depth of his heart.

"Oh Anakin; You didn't fail me. All you did was make me proud."

"Proud? How? You DIED!"

Shmi gave her son a sad smile. "Anie, nothing you could have done would have saved me. You know I was doomed the moment they didn't treat my injuries."

She sighed. "And Anie, what happened... afterwards..."

She paused, and Anakin braced himself for the worst.

"I love you anyway..."

"But?"

"Do you really think they deserved it?"

Only a few short years ago, Anakin's answer would have been an empathic yes, but now he only shook his head.

"No."

"And you know it, Anie. Why do you think you blame yourself all these years later?"

"Because I deserve it. What I did was evil and just plain wrong."

"A path to the Dark Side?"

He sighed. The occasional visions, nightmares that showed him that other future...He knew far from everything that was going on there, but he knew that somewhere, somehow that version of him had started on a path that led to him pursuing his own son down a metal trench.

"Maybe..." he sighed. "I don't know. But that I didn't follow that path doesn't mean that I shouldn't hold myself responsible."

"Which is why you keep declining a seat on the Jedi Council."

For the first time since this... whatever had started he smiled. "Among other things, yes."

"But why does it still rule your life?"

He couldn't find an answer.

"Whatever you do," 'Shmi' went on, "you balance all your acts and decisions up against what you did on Tatooine. And Anie, this is wrong. Letting guilt rule your life is wrong."

"But I killed them all!"

"Then remember them, remember what you did^and honour their memory, and make sure that it does not happen again. Make sure that your children know what not to do, but do not let it rule your life. As long as you and those around you remember what happened, it will not happen again."

She looked directly in his eyes.

"But Anakin, constantly fearing that everything you do might lead you down the path to the Dark Side again..."

"Will only help those already on it."

"And as long as you do not make peace with yourself, the path you are on will lead you astray again."

"To the Dark Side?"

'Shmi' just smiled and faded into the scenery.

When Anakin's eyes opened again, both suns were rising, so he ensured that he would be gone before his stepbrother and his wife awoke.

 **tbc**

 **AN: Wow, I was kind of excited, because this is the first time I am putting any of the characters to an Original Trilogy location (Falcon aside).**

 **There was going to be a second scene right at where Anakin's experience with his mother ends, but I so couldn't be bothered to rewrite it after the crash... It might appear someplace else.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Sorry for not replying to your comments. Work/RL were insane...**

 **Chapter 10**

The Lambda-Class shuttles could carry some twenty passengers, but aside from the pilot, the one that landed on a small clearing outside the city carried only twelve Stormtroopers. More shuttles with groups just as small had been inserted over the course of the night, and this was the last run. Making several small landings instead of one big one was risky, but Lady Paqua had insisted that it be done this way. Each of the groups was commanded by a Lieutenant as was this group, but no one knew that their leader had held the rank of Captain when the Corps had still been the Grand Army of the Republic.

The losses the 501st had taken during the Pacification of Coruscant had made it easier to infiltrate them. Even so, of the twenty men he had started out with only twelve still lived. The others had died in combat. Amazingly, they had managed to hide themselves so far. But the unquestioning obedience that was so vital in convincing Palpatine's henchwoman of their loyalty to the new order had made it necessary to partake in the sort of actions that had made the Stormtroopers feared and hated at the same time.

He checked the right arm guard of his armour. Like the rest of it, it was fashioned in the mottled grey-green colour that blended in with the vegetation of this world and would also make them harder to see in the city. What it was lacking was the blue stripe of the 501st Legion and the insignia of Torrent Company.

 _"_ _Right, spread out. Standard perimeter."_

His troops didn't answer and instead moved to the edge of the clearing.

 _"_ _Sunray, this is Meteor Six-One. We are in position."_

The operations officer aboard _Iron Fist_ replied. _"Proceed to target."_

He wondered why his squad had been chosen for this particular part of the mission. He realized, even though he was not supposed to, that this whole thing was to set a trap for rebellious elements, but why was his squad had been sent with two others...

But he knew that this was not yet the time to make an open move, so he and his men kept their heads down and did what they were told, however distasteful and plain wrong that was.

Fifteen minutes later, his squad was arrayed in front of the back wall of what once was a droid production facility but that had gone bust before the war and was now mostly empty except for that machinery too heavy to move. It was built like a bunker and from recon holo's he'd seen, he knew that the entrance on the other side where the other half of he assault force was to go in was easily defended.

He cleared his mind of everything but the current mission, an ability that was inherent to all clones and that had served him and his men in good stead in the past. It was good that he had done so, because as he did a last check E-11 rifle he had been issued only a few short weeks ago and that he had already learned to hate because of it's inherent inaccuracy.

The shadow that appeared next to him out of the darkness of the night and Lady Paqua, never one for niceties with the rank and file, opened with expressing her appreciation for how he'd set up the assault.

"Thank you, Mylady."

"You have earned your rank with a good reason, TK-421." she said.

He said nothing in reply. She did not need to know that the real TK-421 had been fed into a rubbish receptacle months ago.

Five minutes later, the front assault team attacked the entrance, which was the signal for his group. Normally they would have set up a blasting charge, but with a Sith Lady by their side they didn't need to, as Paqua simply pulled down a huge chunk of the wall and was through the gap she'd created before he and any of his men had crossed the street.

The fight inside the compound was nasty, brutish and short. The supposed rebels turned out to be little more than an armed gang, and in the long run the Imperials were probably doing the locals a favour, but what Paqua had come for came in an.. 'incident' that he was unlikely to forget any time soon.

One of the few survivors was the leader of the Gang. When 'TK-421' came from inspecting his men on the perimeter back into what had been the factory director's office and that contained the computer systems the locals were using. The leader was hovering in the middle of the room, suspended in mid air by Paqua's Force abilities.

At that point he was already bleeding from several wounds, and 'TK-421' knew that he wouldn't survive the next few minutes, even if he told them everything he knew.

"Was anyone here asking for the Rebels?"

First the man pissed himself for what was the second time, and then he all but squealed what he knew. "Th... they came yesterday, A... a Wookie and a Togruta... they asked about the slaver camp, how to get there and about the guards...that's all I know, I swear! PLEASE don't kill me."

"And of course you told them everything?"

"Yes! YES!"

"When was this?"

"Three hours ago!"

Desperately trying to save his life yet doomed to failure, the human in Paqua's grasp repeated everything that he had told the two people sought by the Sith.

The smile on Darth Paqua's face would have been sweet with anyone else, but here 'TK-421' couldn't help the shiver that ran down his spine. She studied the criminal like a medical scientist would look at a particularly nasty infection.

"How typical. You and yours, you act as if you own the place, but if even a modicum of pressure is applied... It's people like you who do nothing but cause chaos and disorder... and because of that, I have no further use for you."

With an impassive smile she broke his neck with the Force and threw his lifeless body into a corner.

"TK-421, get everything you can out of their computers, then set fire to this place."

 _"_ _Yes, Mylady."_

Getting into the system wasn't hard. The encryption software the criminals had used had been outdated even when this factory had still produced utility droids, and the biggest obstacle was the haphazard and nonsensical chaos in which files were stored. Luckily the operating system was cooperating, so he found the required files within a few minutes. Whoever had run this system had at least thought to label them chronologically, so he picked the files of the current day and fast-forwarded to the proper point.

Nothing remarkable happened. The recording was of poor quality and the sound wasn't that good, but it was still enough to see that nothing special was going on. Everything changed abruptly. The pickup area of the holocam that had made the recording was limited so at first all they saw was the criminals charging off-screen before being... _thrown_ back into the centre of the room and making splinters of the furniture. Then the picture showed two figures, one a tall being unmistakably a Wookie, but the other hidden by a cloak, but with a hand extended forward in a pose he'd seen plenty of times in the past.

Clearly a Force user.

Paqua stepped next to him and stared at the same screen. She was far too busy with what was replaying before her to notice his inspection. He shook his head and returned his attention to the matter at hand. The Jedi removed her cloak. 'TK-421' recognized her instantly and was thankful that they had been briefed on the principal rebel leaders. It was the Commander, and a tiny portion of his mind couldn't help a chuckle when he noticed that she finally seemed to grow in more than increments and was starting to be rather tall.

"Ahsoka Tano... not that I am surprised." You didn't have to be a Force user to detect the hatred rolling off the Lady of the Sith, though 'TK-421' didn't know if it was against the Commander in particular or the Jedi in general.

She turned away.

 _"_ _Orders, Mylady?"_

Paqua sighed and turned on her heels.

"We will return to the shuttles and attack at once."

It seemed that their employment with the Imperial forces would end sooner than expected.

* * *

((I have a bad feeling about this.))

Ahsoka couldn't help but agree. The camp was even worse than she had imagined, and it pained her that she couldn't do anything for the poor souls that had been loaded on the shuttle that left even as they approached the compound on foot.

"So do I, but we have no other choice."

They were perched on a cliff overlooking the camp and had spent most of the day overlooking their operations. Ahsoka's bad feeling had amplified during the day and now she was beyond worried. She didn't have to voice that to Chewbacca. The Wookie was not Force sensitive, but she knew that he wasn't happy with the whole situation himself.

Which was why they had decided to wait until it was dark. The improvised shuttlepad on top of one of the buildings had been empty since they saw the last shuttle depart, and speeders with ever more unfortunate victims had driven in past the sentries throughout the day, so they had both judged it unlikely that another shipment would go off before the morning.

For what was the tenth or eleventh time that day, Ahsoka began to study the compound through her binocs.

The same guards walking the same patterns with the same weapons.

As the sun began to disappear behind the horizon, Ahsoka clipped the binocs back to her belt and slipped her her lightsabre from under her forearm where she still kept it when off-world.

"Bad feeling or not, I think it's time."

Chewie grunted an affirmative and followed her as she began to move back down the cliff and then the slope towards the camp.

The slavers had a well-defended compound, but had declined to post a roving sentry as the two unwanted guests both would have. Even though a few riflemen wouldn't have been much of a hindrance to the combined combat skills of a Jedi and a Wookie. But it would have influenced further events of that night.

With things as they were, neither Ahsoka nor Chewie had any difficulty in getting inside. With her lightsabre it took the young Togruta Jedi seconds to cut a hole in the perimeter fence that they would both fit through. They had scanned the most common frequencies throughout the day and were reasonably certain that the two guards they quietly dispatched shortly after would not be missed for a while. The central, biggest building was obviously used as the command centre for this operation, not only because of the shuttles but also because of the communications gear on the roof and around it. Chewie not only wanted to free the slaves but was interested in where the vile shipments were ultimately going, and for that he needed to get into the slaver's computers, most likely to be found in the command/barracks building they were approaching now.

At first Ahsoka had been worried about the roving patrols inside the compound itself, but now that she saw the patrols up close, she was not impressed. Not only were they walking the same predictable pattern, they also seemed to be too occupied with killing time to really do more than walk their rounds. Many of them had their weapons shouldered and as they had found out all of them carried commlinks, but there were no records of regular checkins on the links taken from the guards they'd killed already.

Getting inside the building itself was more unpleasant than hard as going through trash recycling systems could not be anything else.

Once inside, Ahsoka knew instantly that she had made the right call with assisting Chewbacca.

Whatever had been there before, it had been converted into slave pens. Now empty, much to Chewie's chagrin, their bloodied and dirty interior would have shown here what had gone on there even if she hadn't been able to sense the evil and despair and death through the Force.

She was reaching out into the Force to find anyone who might still be in the pens when it happened.

The first inclination that something was wrong was when she was suddenly slammed with a wave of Dark Side energy. She stumbled in mid stride, but by the time she had recollected her faculties, the attack had begun.

Chewie, not realizing that something was wrong until the building started to shake around them, turned towards her. Ahsoka already had her lightsabre in hand.

"The Empire."

That was all the information the Wookie needed.

First resistance was encountered about halfway up the staircase when two slavers fired a few badly aimed shots at them before Chewie's bowcaster cut them down.

The first of three storeys above ground was a poorly maintained barracks level where the slavers slept in dirty bunks. By the time the two attackers reached that, most of them had already left to fight the stormtroopers.

Ahsoka felt a second wave of Dark Side energy. "She is here." was all she said.

((Who?))

"Paqua." she said and looked at the Wookie. "I..."

Ahsoka closed her eyes ans sighed. "I have to distract her if you want to get the data."

Are you sure?

"It's not as if I want to," she said with a laugh, "but the Force has a way of, well, _forcing_ these things. I'd rather run into her on my own terms. The best way to distract her is to draw her away from you."

Chewie saw that she was serious and knew better than to try and dissuade her from her chosen path.

((And your own mission?))

"Let's meet at the speeder in an hour. We'll do it then."

He was uncertain that it was the right thing to do and would never understand why she had decided on it so quickly, but he knew that the ways of the Jedi were often hard to understand for outsiders.

As Ahsoka traced the Dark Side presence to it's source, she wasn't sure why she was doing it. She knew that Anakin had no particular desire to face anyone but Palpatine, and she also figured that a showdown with the most famous Jedi was what Paqua wanted.

What she also knew was that she was playing Paqua's game, running into a confrontation that the Sith had created and that she was running headlong into a blindingly obvious trap. Ahsoka reached into the Force and stopped at the steps that led to the roof from an otherwise empty building. She let out a deep, slow breath, releasing her fear and worries into the Force as she let out the air from her lungs.

 _Emotion, yet peace._ _  
Ignorance, yet knowledge._ _  
Passion, yet serenity._ _  
Chaos, yet harmony._ _  
Death, yet the Force._

After reciting the mantra, she felt at peace both with herself and with whatever might happen in the next ten minutes. She raced up the stairs.

The six stormtroopers that had guarded the roof access door proofed to be not much of a hindrance, especially since Ahsoka used her Force Wave technique to blow both them and the door itself clear across the roof and down into the compound where their compatriots were rounding up the last of the slavers.

Darth Paqua, observing operations with a few troopers standing at her side, turned even before the first of the troopers had flown off the building. With one smooth movement she Force-jumped towards Ahsoka. Drew and then activated her sabre. When the remaining troopers moved to assist, she ordered them to remain back.

"So, Commander Tano. It will be a pleasure to end your rebellious existence and kill one more of you weakling Jedi."

Ahsoka smiled, standing with her back to the door and with her sabre in a back-handed low-guard position.

"If I were you, I wouldn't be so sure, Paqua. The Order is stronger than you might think."

Paqua, her sabre also on guard, snorted.

"Hardly. You have taken what made the Order so weak and you have reinforced it. You allow yourselves to be distracted by your... _attachments_ , by your so-called love for those around you instead of embracing the untold power of the Dark Side."

The venom with which Paqua had spoken of the attachments contained just a trace of envy. Ahsoka didn't know what to make of it, but she filed it away for future use.

"I think we have to agree to disagree there, Paqu." she replied with a sweet smile, knowing that the 'nickname' would further enrage the Sith. She had considered drawing out this conversation to give Chewbacca more time, but for some reason she sensed in the Force that she would not have to do it. She had never been as good at foreseeing the future as Anakin, but still..

"You are as impertinent as your old Master, Tano. I wish I could kill him to day instead of you, but it will have to do."

Paqua charged, but Ahsoka was able to deflect her first blow. Paqua tried again, but Ahsoka, knowing that she wasn't strong enough to really defeat the Sith Lady was staying on the defensive, taking care to not have her opponent between herself and the stairs that led back down. However, what Paqua didn't realize was that even though she was stronger than Ahsoka, the Togruta wasn't actually trying to win, knowing that all she had to do was not loose.

They traded ineffectual blows for a while until Ahsoka stumbled over a piece of armour from one of the stormtroopers that had guarded the door. She managed to hold onto her sabre, but in falling to the ground, she gave Paqua the advantage. The Sith realized this instantly and she rained blow after blow down on the prostrate Jedi at her feet. As she tried to crawl towards the stairs, Ahsoka barely managed to keep from being sliced to pieces, with her sabre arresting the last blow only inches from her throat.

"Submit!" Paqua growled.

"NEVER!" Ahsoka returned with the same growl. Summoning every ounce of strength in herself, she pulled at a sensor dish that had become dislodged during the fight and sent it flying towards the Sith. Paqua sensed the projectile coming and successfully dodged it, but this gave Ahsoka the breathing space she needed. She jumped to her feet and somersaulted herself to the top of the small shack that covered the staircase. Paqua followed, only for Ahsoka to jump away again, this time towards where the onlooking stormtroopers still stood and then back towards the door. All this was to keep Paqua busy and distracted from what Ahsoka was really doing. Since she was not the sort of Jedi Paqua still seemed to remember, she carried at least one thermal detonator on her person whenever she was likely to go into combat. This she had pulled from her pockets when Paqua had been distracted by the dish. She jumped towards the shuttle again, flipped the detonator to minimum delay and chucked it towards the shuttle.

The stormtroopers saw it flying and scattered to the side even though they all would be within it's detonation radius. But Ahsoka hadn't aimed for them but rather for the shuttle, and the thundering detonation ruptured it's fuel tanks, sending a shockwave and debris all around. Most of the troopers were either killed by the explosion itself or hurled over the side by the shockwave. Those that weren't could be discounted.

Paqua had allowed herself to be surprised by the explosion. Even though she managed to stay on the roof and avoid the worst of the debris, she was thrown down and smaller pieces fractured her swordarm in three places and forced her to drop her sabre. This was not the only wound she suffered, but it was the one of the most consequence. She walked over to the Sith, fully intending to end it then and there, but as if it was fated, a second shuttle screamed in, firing as it came. It missed Ahsoka, but it forced her to instead retreat towards the staircase. Deciding not to risk it again, she ran without sparing the Sith a further glance.

Since the door was in several pieces now, Ahsoka used her sabre to cut the durasteel supports of the spiral staircase behind her as she went. Upon reaching the third storey, the staircase was only supported by the central support beam on the floor, Ahsoka having cut the upper one before. A few quick thrusts with her sabre fixed that. She had to jump to avoid the collapsing durasteel structure, but it gained her a precious minute or two, especially since Paqua was wounded.

She knew that Chewbacca was in the control room so she headed there.

Her blood froze when she saw him surrounded by about a dozen stormtroopers.

She was about to charge and attack when one of the troopers, wearing Lieutenant's insignia, saw how Chewbacca reacted to her approach and turned. He held up both hands.

"Commander Tano!"

The familiar way in which he had said that arrested Ahsoka's charge, giving him time to remove his helmet. His face looked like any other clone, but Ahsoka still knew the tiny differences they developed over time, and the way he looked at her, quite aside from the haircut.

"Rex?"

He smiled. "Yes, Commander."

Ahsoka couldn't help a grin as she extinguished her blade. "It is good to see you, Captain. Your men?"

Rex grinned. "We can trust them, Ma'am. We all removed our chips."

She sighed in relief. "Good, because we have to move, and I still have a mission to complete."

 **tbc**

 **Yes, I did it. I gave them sensible armour variants. Or rather, I kept them using the variants/camouflage schemes we see during the Clone Wars era.**

 **Including Rex was originally not something I planned, to be perfectly honest. Back when I started this, I really disliked the clones and didn't buy into the GAR fanboyism that** ** _seemed_** **to be going around at the time. I disliked them for what I knew they were going to do in ROTS, and it stayed that way until... Rebels. The moment I read online that Rex and some of his men were in there, I was intrigued, and when I heard that they hadn't obeyed Order 66, I decided I had to bring them in. So here they are. That they fit in perfectly with my plans for Episode VI really is an honest to god coincidence.**

 **On a more serious note, you can see I am going to make Paqua more Vader-ish. I'm not going to go all the way because of their different personalities. I also think that in a few places, Vader was too moustache-twirling evil. Case in point, Needa's fate after Hoth. He'd be on Paqua's shitlist for a long time and would have to work very hard to redeem himself, but he wouldn't have been executed by her for falling for a tactic he couldn't have foreseen. I mean come on, which professional Naval Officer could have anticipated Han trying something that stupid?**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Olin was trying hard to regain his composure and the inner serenity he needed to meditate. But it was difficult to do with the things Skywalker had told him, and he was still trying to decide how to react to it. It was a step down the path to the Dark Side. And yet, Skywalker had admitted as much, and had turned away from it with a concious choice.

What had amazed Olin the most, Skywalker's remorse and feelings of guilt were entirely genuine, he was sure of that. Olin wasn't sure why he knew that since it was well within Skywalker's range of abilities to make it look like he was, but something made Olin believe him.

Oddly that made his decision on how to react to everything even worse. His base instincts told him to disown Skywalker and never talk to him again, but... the needs of the mission aside, he had to admit to himself that blaming it all on him would be wrong. It was strange, but for the first time in Force knew how long he really empathized with the so-called Chosen One, and not only because of his honesty. It was because he had been more than willing to pay the price for what he had done, both here on Tatooine and because of his other infractions against the code. He had been willing to leave the Order once the gravest danger was over, he had been willing to accept whatever punishment the Council deemed appropriate, aside from leaving his family, and he had rejected the offered seat on the Council because he had deemed himself unworthy. What was more, Olin now knew that Skywalker had never been comfortable with his status as the Chosen One who would bring balance to the Force.

Different people had different methods for dealing with pressure, and Olin felt that Skywalker would have been better served with not lashing out at everyone around him, but it hadn't done it just because he was brash, too self-confident and a bit egoistical. He had been all that and still had those flaws, but no more than any other human being. Olin had been told time and again that the experiences around the Exodus had humbled him and to an extent he had seen it before, but only now had he understood just how far that had gone.

The great Anakin Skywalker, known to be the most self-assured Jedi in the Order had been about as self-assured as... well, he hadn't been. He had calmly told Olin what had happened, including how he had been so scared that Padmé might reject him that he had really considered lying to her even though she knew him well enough to see through it. After that he hadn't waited for Olin's reaction and had instead just walked out and away into the night.

Olin huffed at his melodramatic choice of words.

At any rate, if there was anyone he was angry with right now, it was the Council. As much as he wanted to be angry with Skywalker, and a part of him really was, it was the Council who had acted wrong in all this. True, to say that they should have foreseen what was happening to Skywalker's mother or that they should have punished him harder instead of offering him a kriffing seat on the Council was to assume that they had the same gifts of foresight as Skywalker did at a time when Palpatine had so successfully cast a veil over the living Force.

Yet Olin was angry with them for letting of Skywalker with what was essentially a slap on the wrist. True, ejecting him from the Order entirely would have been galactically stupid at a time when they had just lost most of their number and were on the run from the rest of the galaxy, but there were plenty of other forms of punishment. Of course the most obvious, trying to make him leave his family would have done nothing but make them all run to the farthest reaches of the galaxy.

What was more, now he understood Skywalker's resentment of the Council a lot better. He'd known the gist of what had happened with Ahsoka Tano, but he hadn't really expected the Council to that dismissive or just how much that had angered Skywalker. Not so much because he saw it as a personal slight, though this being him there was some of that. It was more because he genuinely cared for his old Padawan, like a good master should. But he went beyond that. What was more, to Skywalker Tano was like the younger sister he'd never had and one of the few that had always accepted him for what he was and not seen him as either the Chosen One or as someone inherently dangerous and not a proper Jedi.

Olin was not above admitting that he was among the latter group.

With all that in mind it wasn't hard to see why Skywalker had lost faith.

What _was_ hard to see was that he allowed himself to stray as far towards the Dark Side as he had.

To be fair to him though, Olin wasn't so sure how he would have felt and reacted in a similar situation.

And that was the crux of it. Skywalker was as flawed as any other human being, and Olin knew that he would never be able to completely forgive him what he'd done, but in the end he did show remorse and he was desperate to follow the ways of the Jedi. And yet he had strayed farther towards the Dark Side than most Jedi. But the philosophy of redemption did seem to apply to him, since he hadn't taken that last, crucial step over the brink.

Could it be that many, probably Olin included, had expected the Chosen One to be perfect in every which way and disliked him because he wasn't? That was something new to consider.

But even if it was, it didn't absolve the Council of their responsibility. They should have punished Skywalker come what may, yet they had chosen convenience over doing what was right. He could see their point and probably would have acted similarly, but it was the principle of the thing. If anyone was to blame for his current predicament it was the Jedi Council.

For the next hour or two Olin meditated on what to do next. By the time the sun rose, he had yet to come to a decision.

* * *

Anakin meanwhile had been trawling the streets of Mos Eisley without a clear direction in mind. He felt relieved after having told Olin everything, but he had sensed that his continued presence in the hovel they'd rented would be counter-productive, so he'd left. Despite feeling actually relieved at having told Olin, knowing that the other Jedi would not act rashly and always put the mission first. What would happen when they returned to Weitun was another matter entirely. But he didn't feel worried about that right now.

He pushed it out of his mind. He had spent the last day worrying and constantly rethreading his steps, but he was sure that he had done the right thing, and it wasn't as if he could do much about it right now. He still wasn't sure why he had told Olin everything. It might be because he knew that the other Jedi wouldn't take the deception well if he discovered it. Anakin couldn't understand why Olin had taken it so personal, as if it had been kept from him and no one else, but then, they hadn't been all that close as Padawans.

Looking up, he saw that he was in front of the docking bay where they had arrived. He didn't know why he had come here, but on a whim, he went inside, circumventing the laughable security measures. If someone asked, he could legitimately claim that he had merely wanted to check up on his ship.

It still stood there as he had parked it, and even though he could see that there had been some activity in the docking bay from the footsteps in the sand and the tracks of at least two or three different droids, none of the external security measures had been tripped.

* * *

 _"What a piece of junk!" Luke exclaimed as he saw the ship for the first time. He was accompanied by the two droids and an old, tired version of Obi Wan._

 _The Corellian was doing something below the ship and came forward._

 _"She'll make .5 past lightspeed." he replied indignantly, "She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts. I made a lot of special modifications myself."_

 _"But. We're a little rushed, so if you'll just get on board we'll get out of here." he said with a smile that women probably found charming._

 _Luke clambered on board._

 _Shortly after, a squad of Stromtroopers broke through the door._

 _"Stop that ship!"_

 _"Blast them!"_

 _A blasterfight broke out in the Docking Bay, and the Corellian raced towards the boarding ramp, felling several stormies with a modified DL-44 even as their shots impacted in the ship's armour around him. He was up the ramp and almost in the cockpit before it had fully closed._

 _"Chewie, get us out of here!"_

 _Luke, Obi Wan and the Droids strapped themselves in around the holochess table, with 3PO remarking on how much he hated space travel._

 _The Wookie fired up the engines, and within seconds the ship was up and lifting out of the Docking Bay. The engines sounded healthy and far more powerful than they should be on a YT-1300._

 _In the cockpit, Chewie pointed out a sensor alert to the Corellian._

 _"Looks like an Imperial cruiser. Our passengers must be hotter than I thought."_

 _He rose from the pilot's seat. "Try and hold them off. Angle our Deflector shield while I make the calculations for the jump to lightspeed."_

 _Chewie did as he was told and banked the Ship away from the ship that looked like an Imperial-Class Star Destroyer more than a cruiser._

 _As he had set the computer to make it's calculations, he noticed something else._

 _"Stay sharp. There's two more of them coming in. They're gonna to try and cut us off."_

 _Luke and Obi Wan came scrambling into the back of the cockpit. "Why don't you out rum them, I thought you said this thing was fast!"_

 _"Watch your mouth kid or you're gonna find yourself floating home." the Corellian replied, more angry at the interruption than at what Luke had said. "We'll be safe enough once we make the jump to hyperspace."_

 _He flipped a few controls. "Besides, I know a few manoeuvres. We'll loose em."_

 _The ship was sent into a series of twisting turns and banks that belied her apparent age, allowing none of the Imperial gunners to land a hit, even though they were at nearly point-blank range._

 _"Here's where the fun begins."_

 _"How long until you can make the jump to lightspeed?" Obi Wan asked._

 _"Take a few moments to get the coordinates from the navicomputer."_

 _Right on cue, a few blasts hit the ship._

 _"Are you kidding? At the rate they're gaining?" Luke exclaimed, pointing at the sensor readouts. The Corellian turned towards him._

 _"Travelling through hyperspace ain't like dustin' crops, boy. Without precise calculations we could fly right through a star or bounce too close to a supernova and that'd end your trip real quick, wouldn't it?"_

 _More and more hits rocked the ship._

 _"What's that flashing?" Luke asked._

 _"We're loosing our deflector shield. Go strap yourself in, I'm going to make the jump to lightspeed."_

 _The galaxy brightened and they moved faster, almost as if crashing a barrier. Stars become streaks as the ship made the jump to hyperspace._

* * *

The vision faded and Anakin once more found himself standing in front of the ship. What was it with that man? It was the same Corellian he'd seen with Leia, although a few years younger. The ship looked a lot like a beat-up, modified version of the Stellar Envoy, but then YT-1300 were not exactly uncommon. Still, if it was the same ship... he quickly dismissed the thought that some notion of fate or some omnipotent being bent in directing his every move wanted this ship to be inexorably tied to his family, along with that Corellian. But even if the man existed, Anakin swore to himself that he would keep Leia away from him. At any cost.

 **tbc**

 **Yes, I skipped over the conversation itself. I tried to write it, but what I came up with plain sucked, then I deleted it and the next run barely got off the ground. Generally this was difficult to write. I hate to use "English as a second language" as an excuse, but I found that putting my thoughts to paper was hard enough in German, never mind English. So, sorry for the long delay.**

 **Also, opinions expressed in this piece are not automatically those of the author.**

 **That Force-vision... I kind of said that I wasn't going to do those any more, but it begged to be written. Not the best place since Vader never actually set foot on Tatooine during ANH (as far as I know) but I wrote this coming off a stomach bug (think reverse eating, splitting headaches and a bit of fiever) and I wanted to get this done. That the vision just happens to be cut just like the scene from a certain movie is a complete coincidence.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

 _"Tweeedlebeep. Blip. Blip. Beeep!"_

 _-R2-D2-_

 _"It never really had an official name early on, and by the time it did, everyone talked of it as Operation Duraplate. No idea where the name came from, but we know it did heavily mislead Imperial Intelligence during the early days."_

 _Senator-in-exile Padmé Skywalker, 19 AJE_

Captain Lane looked at the table with some concern. On it was a partly disassembled LEP Servant droid, it's distinctive 'ears' having been removed along with the casings for it's head and most of the body.

"What exactly am I looking at here?"

Grudin, a middle-aged yet exuberant female Rodian spoke flawless yet accented Basic. "It's something I was working on with General Skywalker. Long story short... The idea actually came from his wife, when she saw that we had captured a consignment of those droids when the [I]Second Chance[/I] took down an Imperial supply convoy last month. They had about a dozen of those droids on board ans since we don't really need them, they were meant to be scrapped for their parts. But anyway, she said that these were the most inconspicuous droids she'd ever seen and that they would function well as infiltrators, messengers and so on..."

She trailed off when she noticed Lan's impatience.

"Ehm... anyway, he set to work and since I am the best Droid mechanic on the planet, he asked for my help."

Lane doubted it had gone quite like that, but Skywalker would have indulged the woman to get access to her lab and workspaces.

"So what do you need from me?"

"Well, firs to approve some sort of field test, and after it's successful, manufacture and deployment of more of them."

"How would we deploy them? And what are the computer security measures against tampering?" Lane asked, fully aware of the possibilities such a concept had.

"Well, the second has been taken care of. General Skywalker used that Astromech of his to program the droids. He... was very insistent." Grudin's distaste for the idea that anyone, anything might be a better programmer than herself was obvious, but unlike her, Lane was well aware that R2-D2 was far, far more than a normal Astromech droid. He was about as close to a human as such a machine could be, and that Skywalker, his family and probably the rest of his inner circle considered the small droid as a true friend.

As such, R2-D2 was probably the best for such a job.

"So what exactly are the modifications you made?"

"I can demonstrate on this one." she said and gestured to the disassembled example on the table, "We didn't actually do anything with the ears. The General believed that it would be too obvious. But we entirely rebuilt and reprogrammed its brain. Think of it as a two-layered brain. Normal maintenance, even if it is fully disassembled and each individual component checked, will reveal no software other than the normal programming of a serving droid. You'd have to go disassemble the code itself, because ours is buried within it. To do that, you have to send power to the component, and if the code detects that, it's meant to delete itself, leaving behind only the clean portions."

"Impressive."

"Yes... sure. Anyway, this is about as secure as we could make it before the General left. The software, that is. Hardware is another matter entirely."

Her eyes began to shine with enthusiasm for her work as she continued, and for all her lengths ways of speaking, Lane couldn't help but admire such dedication to one's craft in someone.

"Hardware is less strict, but only because the General insisted that it must be nigh-on untedectable, preferably that if it [I]is[/I] detected it is then dismissed as a anti-tampering device by the original developer that hasn't yet made it into publicly accessible blueprints or that was retrofitted by whoever actually bought the droids for imperial service. Hardware-wise, sensors are in this line limited to the type the model comes equipped with, but since this one's primary function is to eavsdrop and record conversations made in it's presence, that's not an issue. Anything more would be too easy to detect. The really clever part comes with what's done with that data. Here, inside the power core housing," she said, pointing at the component in question, "as well as in the heatsink attached to it we've hidden recording devices with, as the General thinks, enough capacity to record a week's worth of audio, filtered via various pre-programmed keywords. For example, if this model were to fetch food in a kitchen, it wouldn't record food ordetrs or such thrown around in the kitchen, but it would record all conversation and food orders in the meeting room it is bringing the food to."

"Impressive." Lane said, really meaning it this time, even more than the first. "How is the data recovered? Somehow I doubt you managed to hide a HoloNet transmitter in there."

"We didn't, though not for lack of trying. In the end we settled on a short-range burst transmitter hiding the signal in the routing, maintenance and Computer-control traffic that all such droids put out regularly or if necessary any other given Imperial transmission. The bandwith and range are very limited, but if you had an intelligence team in, say, twenty kilometres distance, you'd be nearly indetectible, less so if you need more range. The maximum we think we can reach is about a hundred kilometres, but that would be in emergencies only."

"But what if we can't have an intelligence team there?"

"That's something else the General asked. My idea there is to have a second set of droids, one that hovers undetected nearby and then has one of two possible purposes, one to act as a one-time use hypercom burst transmitter, the two to reach a suitable comm relay nearby and insert the message into any outgoing traffic. Though ideally, the messages would be handed off to a third type of droid that would be recruited from the sort that accompany the imperials on shuttles and the like, who would then hand them off to one of our agents at a time and place to be specified."

"What if the signal is intercepted?"

She smirked. "If someone views it without the proper encryption hard- and software, all they get is the Empire's official travel guide to Coruscant."

Lane couldn't help a childish chuckle. The holo in question was infamous on Weitun, as it was a 'guided tour' of Coruscant's famous sights as narrated by a cutesy version of none other than the Emperor. Debate raged on if he had really done the voice-over as the holo claimed, but it was the source of no end of hilarity in the Republic.

In the end, he was impressed. This could potentially solve a lot of problems. Even though only a few were aware of the Emperor's Force powers, operatives that couldn't be broken with blackmail, drugs and torture would be invaluable. And to be honest, the Republic couldn't afford not to think out of the box. Lane was certain that this sort of thing had been tried before in the long history of the Galaxy, but some ideas just kept coming up again and again.

"Well, if you can make this work, I'll take as many as you can build." Lane said, deciding to sacrifice some of the RNI slush fund he had been building up over the last few months, "But I'll take what you said to me to my team and have them try to poke some holes in the plan first."

"Yes, Sir."

* * *

This was one of the days when Padmé really could do without the empathic link she somehow shared with her children. She sensed Luke's distress from a long way away. She didn't know if it was the strength of the emotion or any indication for the bond getting... stronger for lack of a better word, but it was clear enough that both Luke and Leia were in distress.

She knew better than to interfere with Jedi classes even though she wasn't comfortable with some of their teaching methods, never mind the subject matter. She knew that the twins would need those skills one day, but her maternal instincts wanted to protect her children from the evil universe that was out there.

She didn't like it, but was realist enough to know that it was probably inevitable. When they had talked about it, Anakin had admitted that part of him wanted to wrap always keep the kids safe, but since they would one day be extremely powerful force users teaching them the skills they needed to survive was vital. A small part of her resented Anakin for his cavalier attitude to all this and she knew that she was irrational, but she couldn't help herself.

The argument that had sparked had been as long coming as it was pointless, and by the time they had stopped yelling at each other, she had resolved not to bring the matter up again in the near future.

Padmé reached the open training ground where some classes were held when the weather permitted it. As usual there were some spectators, this time watching none other than Master Yoda teaching a large class of younglings the basics of sabre combat. They were still too young to master the construction of actual sabres, so normally they would have been using training sabres, extremely low-powered training weapons unable to do more than create moderate heat on the opponent's skin. But since crystals were in such short supply, electric sabres were used. These were essentially sticks surrounded by an electrified metal grid that were supposed to mimic the balance of a real sabre.

She stopped at the edge of the training grounds and watched with equal parts pride, fascination and horror as her two children 'fought' the other initiates under the watchful eyes of the ancient Jedi Master. The source of their distress was readily apparent. Luke was cornered by an opponent far taller than him and with longer arms. Leia clearly wanted to assist her brother, but she had a sparring partner of her own.

As Padmé watched, Luke parried a downward stroke and put all his strength into his arms to neutralize the downward momentum and raw strength brought against him. He then side-stepped his opponent, removed his sabre and let the other one stumble forward. The other initiate yielded as Luke's 'weapon' was pointed at him in the proscribed manner. Leia either sensed or saw that her brother had persevered. It was obvious that Leia was more talented than her opponent, a Twi'lek male half again her height.

Maternal pride warred with worry about what her children would eventually be asked to do. She knew that Anakin was already bursting with pride and had been since the day the twins had returned home arm in arm and announced that they would start sabre classes the next day.

That had been the cause of the biggest fight she'd had with Anakin since arriving on Weitun, and she was still glad that the rock was fairly soundproof. Her husband hadn't seemed the least bit worried and months upon months of worry had exploded out of her. It had been stupid, as they both knew that almost all of the accusations were without much behind them, but months and years worth of worries had spewed out of both of them in that awful hour. When the fury had burnt out of them, they hadn't really talked for much of the day.

Yet in the end...

"Mom! Mom! Mom!"

While she had thought of the mistakes of the past, Master Yoda had ended the lesson. While most of the younglings returned to their quarters in the underground sections of the base itself, a handful of them returned to their parents waiting nearby. Under normal circumstances they would have sensed that she wasn't her usual self today, but they were still little children, albeit not the usual ones. Because of this they didn't hesitate as they threw themselves into their mother's arms.

"Did you see?" Leia asked, plainly referring to what she had accomplished today.

"Of course I did, Princess!" Padmé exclaimed with a smile and took both her children by their hands. "

 **tbc**

 **Lord knows why I threw that in right away, but I kind of had an idea for how to do this piece and ran with it. For the guy who had the idea, thanks, you know who you are. :) The particulars are inspired by how Gara's R2 in the (I think) second to last Wraith Squadron novel messed with the systems of the ship she was on. As you might notice, part of what drew me to Star Wars EU to begin with was the very detailed and expansive world-building, to points such as this one. I can't hope to match that in the relatively limited scope of the Heresyverse, but I try to do so anyway when I introduce things I think would be new.**

 **The travel guide thing is based on a very real Star Wars book my public library used to have many years ago, before the Prequels ever came out. IIRC it was 1992-93ish when I saw it. It was great, it showed detailed pictures and descriptions of anything from Endor to the Coruscant orbital mirrors (which is where I hear of them for the first time), basically a best off, all written from the perspective of and narrated by an Imperial travel guide to those locations. I wish I remembered its name, because I would dearly love to lay my hands on a copy for my own collection and just generally read it again. Should anyone be able to assist me, please do so. :)**

 **On a more serious note, I had some serious trepidations over writing Luke and Leia as actual characters. For some reason there are persons, fictional and real, that I find ridiculously difficult to write for. Would you believe me it took me three days to get past that first sentence they said and write that last section?**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

"And what is your mission, Ma'am?" Rex asked.

Ahsoka answered without hesitation and outlined what had transpired on the planet and what she intended to do. She glanced back to where Chewbacca was removing datachips from the various computers before turning back to her old Clone Commander.

"Rex, we have about a minute or two before the Imps come crashing in through that door, so we better get out of here before doing a proper reunion."

"Yes, Ma'am." Rex replied with a grin. "This way. Eleven, Twelve, you take the rear. The rest, with me."

Ahsoka noted that before they moved, they all disabled the tracking devices in their helmets. Another point for them.

She followed them as Rex led them down a side corridor and away from the trash compactor she had entered through.

Are you certain we can trust them?

Even as she followed the former Stormtroopers, she chuckled. "No. But Rex trusts them, and I trust him. We went through a lot together during the war."

As if to emphasise her point, a pair of stormtroopers came around the corner, but before they could do more than stare at them for a few seconds, Rex and his point men had shot them in the chest. He led the group into a narrow passage that only allowed them to walk single-file. He was taking point with Ahsoka right behind him. Ahsoka recognized it as an old utility tunnel, even though it had probably not been used since the compound had been built.

"This leads us to the slave pens, Commander."

"Will there be a guard on the other side?" she asked.

"Only two. We discovered this access when we... they attacked. Some animal came running out of it. It was judged as too narrow so they didn't use it."

It was then that Chewbacca spoke.

None of the clones could understand him, so they were surprised when Ahsoka nearly tripped over her own two feet.

"You did WHAT?"

He repeated.

Ahsoka sighed and then urged them all to move even faster. "He set a timer on the slaver's power core. We have twenty minutes before the damn thing explodes."

"So how were you going to save the slaves?" Rex asked, and Ahsoka couldn't help a grin when she heard his reply.

"He says that if you hadn't interrupted him, he wouldn't be in a hurry now."

Rex chuckled and Ahsoka could almost see the smirk on his face through the armour of his helmet and the back of his head.

They needn't have bothered.

When they emerged from the tunnel, they were confronted by two stormtroopers who immediately opened fire. Their shots went wide, the bolts fired by Rex and his pointman did not. They both displayed the expert marksmanship.

But it was too late. The last shipment of slaves had been brought in by the original owners of the site even as both groups of attackers approached, but all they could see was the last few of them being herded aboard a shuttle. Chewbacca was about to move towards the shuttle even as it took off, but most of the Stormtroopers were assembling in the same area, presumably awaiting transport to withdraw. He was so enraged that he clearly contemplated charging against them anyway, but thought better of it.

The stormtroopers instantly opened fire. True to form, Rex and his men took cover behind whatever was available. Ahsoka and Chewbacca on the other hand remained out in the open, the Jedi parring shots with her sabre and the Wookie picking of one stormtrooper after another.

But everyone involved knew that they couldn't afford to be drawn into a long fight here. Paqua was nowhere to be seen but Ahsoka was certain that she would have to face the Sith again before leaving this planet. Right now however...

It was Rex that broke the moment. "We need to fall back, Ma'am!"

"I know!" Ahsoka yelled, trying to be heard over the din of battle around them. "We need transport too, I hadn't expected so many passengers!"

Rex only nodded and changed a few words with his men over the comms built into their helmets. Ahsoka knew better than to expect him to use anything other than a channel that was safe enough for tactical communications.

One after another the clones fell back towards the nearby perimeter of the compound until only Ahsoka, Chewbacca and Rex remained. They needed to get away from them, so Ahsoka reached out into the force and generated a moderately strong Force Wave attack. The skill she had been taught by what the old Order had seen as Grey Jedi, most of whom she knew were dead, worked best in confined spaces, not out in the open. The distance was also a bit long for the Force Wave, but in this instance the combat technique was only meant to distract the Imps.

In that it worked perfectly. Even at this distance and with the effect dispersing into the open air, most of the stormtroopers were still thrown to the ground. This allowed her, Chewbacca and Rex to flee, with Rex taking the lead. At this point she was beyond surprise when the clone led them to low building she had seen the speeders delivering the slaves disappear into.

On the inside the rest of the rebellious clones had already 'requisitioned' a freight speeder that would be able to take them all.

"Chewbacca?" she asked.

I will help you, Jedi. the Wookie replied, I gave my word, so I will help you find the Rebels.

Ahsoka only nodded and watched him climb into the speeder.

With Rex at the helm they managed to break through the apparent confusion that reigned outside without taking more than a handful of shots. Apparently the Imperials had discovered Chewbacca's tampering and were now in a frantic evacuation. Still no sign of Paqua.

And no pursuit either. This was too easy; she should have to assume that they were being tracked in some fashion.

She wouldn't know until some time later that Paqua was sitting in her shuttle, smiling thinly at the thought of Ahsoka Tano doing her work for her.

Minutes after leaving the compound behind they could all hear the thundering explosion as the power core failed. It did nothing to ease the tension Ahsoka felt at their apparent easy escape, but it prompted Rex to speak to her for the first time since he had taken the driver's seat. Now that he was without his helmet, Ahsoka could study the familiar features. Like all clones he'd aged faster than a normal human, but he was still pretty much the same person she'd fought alongside during the war.

"I'm sorry, Rex. You were saying?"

"I said that back there... it felt like the old days, Commander."

"Yes..." she replied with a sigh.

"All that was missing was the General doing something reckless."

He glanced at her for a moment without saying anything. Ahsoka heard the unspoken question.

"Oh he's fine, Rex."

"So you've spoken to him since the war?"

"Him and... a few others."

"So you ran into them?"

"Just before Order 66. And I've since rejoined the Order." Ahsoka said nothing more and instead stared out at the passing landscape.

She put her mind to the matter at hand. First they needed to get rid of this speeder, the get alternate transport that wasn't as easily traced then go to...

"Chewbacca? Where exactly are the Rebels?"

Half a local day later, a strange procession could be seen working its way through the wooded foothills of the eastern mountains. It was led by a hooded figure, a wookie and a stromtrooper, with several more troopers following behind.

The only observer that there was not inclined to be appreciative of the view. As one of the rebels Ahsoka was seeking, the human woman was more inclined to open fire, but her orders were strict. The Master could be a pain in the posterior, but she had kept them all alive for years now.

What was really odd was not only that the wookie wasn't a prisoner but also that it was only such a small group. True, they still outnumbered those that were left now, but with the advantage of position...

So she called it in and moved back to where the rest of the group was waiting.

The Jedi Master was there with the rest of them, and she asked the first question. The scout gave her report, and the Jedi Master instantly sprang to her feet and had the group assume positions. The ambush had been planned long ago, as the spot chosen was the best one on the only passable track that led to the area where they had their base. They had expected raiders, slavers and other assorted local criminals to come up the trail, not the Empire. They would just drop out of the sky and leave again after having razed whatever target had drawn their wrath. Yet these were coming up the most obvious route, on foot, and in a group far too small to ensure success. But the Jedi Master had never been someone to look a gifted Bantha in the mouth, not that she had much of a choice in this case.

Once at the site, they all took long since rehearsed positions and waited.

Twelve minutes later their weapons were aimed down the track as the group approached. The hooded figure in front raised a gloved hand and they all stopped, the stormtroopers covering their surroundings. They were too far away for the rebels to hear what they were saying, but the Wookie and the lead stormtrooper seemed to disagree with her about something. But the figure stepped forward into the stretch of sunken path where the rebels lay in wait. Once there, the figure reached up and removed the hood, revealing an orange and white face that the Jedi Master knew only too well. She blasted herself for not recognizing the presence earlier or even really looking for it, but now.. what was Tano doing with the Empire?

And with that, Jedi Master Luminara Unduli used the Force to jump out, activating her lightsabre in mid-air.

 **tbc**

 **Rex and his people have turned from Stormies back into Republic Clone Troopers, so of course they can shoot straight again.**

 **I'm not happy with the pacing of this chapter, but I couldn't think of a better way to get it where it ended. It's also too short but as stated above, I had serious pacing issues.**


	14. Chapter 14

**AN: Sorry for not doing individual supplies. Once again, I can only plead a mixture of RL and plain not getting around to it. As a gesture, you'll be getting the rest of the chapters I've written for this so far and you'll be caught up with the other place where I post these. Even so, I read every comment I get.**

 **Chapter 14**

'Why. did. it. have. to. be. her?' was not a thought that Ahsoka had expected to be running through her mind when she finally made contact with the Jedi she had come here to... rescue? Help? It didn't really matter. In a way she was glad that she had encountered the former Master of an equally former friend of hers now instead of five years ago. The anger at Barris and her master that she had felt upon leaving the Order had dimmed since then, a lot. That the Order had 'seen the error of its ways' as Anakin had put it was a part of it, and she had a suspicion that it had helped him as much as herself.

The rest of it had been a slow realization that for whatever reason Barris had done what she had done, Unduli had been as blind-sided by it as anyone else. She had never tried to apologize to Ahsoka, but back then when she had been an angry, young ex-Padawan she would probably not have been receptive. She had made her peace with the whole affair, or at least she had thought she had.

Coming face to face with Master Unduli brought it all back to the fore.

But then, she wasn't an angry ex-Padawan any more, was she? She was Ahsoka Tano, Jedi Knight of the Republic, Commander in the Republic Navy and Blue One. And lastly, an emissary of the Jedi High Council.

She deactivated her own sabre and placed it back into the spring-loaded clip under her right forearm. When that was done, she looked back up at Unduli and no longer wondered how she had not sensed her presence earlier. Even now, knowing who it was and standing maybe ten metres away, it was barely more than a slight hum above the background of the living Force. She had never met or even heard of anyone who had cut herself off from the Force so completely as Luminara Unduli.

That still left the issue of how to convince the Jedi and the others Ahsoka sensed around the obvious ambush site of her good intentions. In retrospect, bringing Rex and the squad along had been the wrong move, but what was done was done. Best go with the basic courtesies.

"Master Unduli, it's good to see you again." she said with a small bow. "I'm here on behest of the High Council to find you."

Unduli fractionally lowered her sabre. "Somehow I find it hard to believe that an emissary of the Council would have an escort from the Emperor's best Legion. Not to forget that there is no council to avail itself of the services of a former Padawan."

Ahsoka was taken aback. Could it be that Unduli had done such a good job of hiding herself from the Force that she had not sensed that the Jedi Order, however reduced was still very much connected to it? That would make things complicated.

"Master," she said, "Yavin was a lie by the Empire. Only an idiot would establish a base on a moon there and then fight to the death instead of running away. The Jedi High Council and the Jedi Order are very much alive."

Knowing that mere words would never convince Unduli, Ahsoka sought a direct mental connection to the other Jedi, partly lowering her mental shields for the purpose. She knew that Unduli would sense to duplicity or deceit from her.

It had [I]some[/I] effect at least, since Unduli extinguished her sabre, but made no other move.

"And your... escort?"

"This here is Chewbacca," Ahsoka replied, "he was the one who led us here. And that... you might remember Captain Rex?"

The clones had taken off their helmets, revealing features that were indistinguishable for most.

"They aren't stormtroopers, Master."

"So what are they instead, Ahsoka?"

"I'm... not sure. But for the moment they are men we can trust. They are on our side."

"How can you be sure?"

Ahsoka smiled. "Because I know Rex, and I trust him. And because he helped us get way from the Sith."

Oddly enough this seemed to convince Unduli. She sighed. "A Sith? I had sensed a dark presence... are you sure?"

The younger Jedi felt the bruises she had collected that day. "Quite sure, Master."

"Who was the Sith after? You or my group?"

Ahsoka shook her head. "I'm not sure, and she didn't really say. She may have been hoping I would lead her back to the rest of the Order, but that would work a lot better if I didn't know that she was on my trail."

She grinned and then slowly reached into one of the pockets on her robes, holding up her other hand to show that she was not pulling out a weapon. To Unduli it was something wrapped in cloth. Ahsoka slowly removed the wrapping and to everyone's but her own surprise it turned out to be a holocron.

The message recorded on it was like many others that had been used over the last five years, for cases just like this one.

Outwardly Unduli showed no emotion when the message played, showing beings she had long believed to be dead.

Ahsoka waited patiently for Unduli to react to the message, using the time to compose herself. There were so many questions she needed to ask the Master, so many things she wanted to say.

And yet... it was wrong to dwell on the past like that. She had done that aplenty between leaving the temple and that day on that space station, and it had gained her... nothing at all. The only thing related to that whole mess that had had any sort of positive effect had been Anakins unwavering support and the way she had been made an honorary Skywalker.

So she stopped doing it. She knew that there would be a time when she would have to discuss the matter with the Jedi Master, but that would preferably not happen on a planet where everyone else was liable to turn them in to the Empire and that had a Star Destroyer hanging in orbit.

"This... certainly looks genuine, Ahsoka." Unduli replied. Ahsoka was well aware why there was still some doubt in Undulis voice.

"Normally I would have come to you alone and left Rex and his men behind to guard our escape, but we encountered you earlier than expected."

Unduli took the compliment for what it was and nodded with a thin smile. "It certainly seems that way. Though that leaves one thing to be determined: why are you here?"

"Well, we heard some rumours that a Jedi was operating around here, and I was sent to investigate. There are still so many of us missing..."

She trailed off, and Unduli didn't need to be a Jedi to see the pain that statement caused the young Jedi.

"The point is Master, that I am to contact you, and if genuine, bring you back to... our base."

Unduli glanced back at where her people were still waiting for her to give orders.

"I see. Then, Knight Tano, you and your... group should follow us to our camp. We must move quickly."

Unduli turned and gave the pre-arranged sign.

* * *

The camp was situated in a low crater of some sort, guarded from overhead optical observation by cliff overhangs that made the place look almost like a cave and from scans by a sensor-reflective net that was spanned between the rocks. When Ahsoka saw what was below them she had the sickening realization that her mission had gotten a lot harder. True, Unduli aside there were less than a dozen rebels in the group, the Master heavily implying that there had once been a lot more, but if... no, when all of them chose to come with them, they as well as Rex' group would pack the [I]Mynock[/I] to capacity and then some. Thanks to the very special Skywalker makeover the shuttles life support systems would be able to hack it, but it would be a very uncomfortable ride.

"So, what do you think?" she said to both her companions.

We can't take all of that. They'll have to leave everything.

"There is no way we can fit even a tenth of that on the shuttle, Ma'am."

Ahsoka knew from the hard-won experience of the last few years that many would insist on hanging on to their personal weapons, the same way she kept her pistol even though these days she only used it in emergencies. "We'll have to fit them in somehow."

She looked over to where Unduli was talking to her group even as most of them kept stealing glances to where most of the former Stormtroopers were standing around awkwardly near the sunken path that led into the crater. They'd known better than to get any closer to the rebels.

"She might remain behind. If that's the case, we won't have a problem."

You can't force her to come with you, young one. Chewbacca replied, well aware of the way the Jedi functioned.

"No, I can't. And I wouldn't anyway. Master Unduli is... in a class of her own."

The Wookie didn't know why there was a hint of dislike in that question, though Rex understood well enough and knew better than to bring it up.

"Why should we trust you? You brought kriffin stormtroopers to our camp!"

The person to almost yell at Ahsoka was tall, not overly muscular man with burn scars running over most of the right side of his face and hair of an orange shade with slightly more red than her own skin. Even if his feelings hadn't come off him in waves, the sheer hatred in his eyes when he looked at Rex and the others was more than evident.

Ahsoka knew that nothing she could say right now would make much of a difference, yet she knew she had to say something.

"Because sooner or later the Imps will find this place and then you will. be. killed!" she replied, putting extra emphasis on the last three words. "Unless you either stop doing what you're doing and fade into the background or come with us."

She turned away, intending to leave Unduli alone with her people so that they could decide what to do amongst themselves, but before she had taken more than a handful of steps towards where Chewbacca and the clones had withdrawn to, it was what Unduli said that made her stop, peaking in a voice that was uncharacteristically soft even for her.

"Then tell us, Ahsoka. Tell us what we would find there."

She was unsure were to begin. Telling them the location of Weitun was out of the question of course, but other than that... So she said the only thing that came to her mind, knowing it wasn't the best thing to say.

When she was done, all the rebels were listening. The man Ahsoka was calling 'Scarface' inside her head was looking back with equal parts want and disbelief, yet the others...

"So that's how it is. I can't [I]make[/I] you come with us. All I can do is extend the invitation." she said, remaining quiet as the rebels began to discuss what they had heard amongst themselves.

She didn't have to say that the same went for Master Unduli, yet she considered it highly unlikely.

Ahsoka had known that Unduli had always been a very empathic person in the sense that she followed the 'help those in need' part of the Jedi Code even more than everyone else. It may have been because of the war, but she couldn't remember the Jedi Master ever being that emotional about something that had concerned herself. It had become obvious for anyone to see when Ahsoka had related the events during the Exodus. She had avoided going into the details of how much the Order had changed since then, leaving that unenviable task for someone else.

"And you would take us?"

"Of course."

"Why?"

The question came from Scarface.

"Because that's the way of the Republic and the way of the Jedi." Ahsoka said, "Would the Empire do it if they were in our place?"

"So everything you do is being done out of the goodness of your heart, is it? Like it was then the Empire guarded us against you people when they destroyed my family?"

"Of course not. We need what you can put into the fight against the Empire. But even if you were merely a group of Nerfherders we would still need you, you could still contribute. No one will force you to come with us, but you will not get any more help from me."

Such unexpected honesty took the wind out of his sails for a moment, and even though she could sense that he wasn't Force sensitive, Ahsoka hid her honesty in no aspect of her being. Normally she wouldn't have been this direct, but time was of the essence. All she wanted right now was to get off this planet, one way or another. She did feel bad about it anyway.

Something in Scarfaces demeanour changed. Ahsoka couldn't really see what it was, but something changed. He looked at her, and for a second he could see incredible longing in his eyes before the mask was back in place. He never openly stated his assent, but he just stepped back, trying his best to disappear in the group.

Unduli looked at her, nodded and began to speak.

"I will join you, Ahsoka. As for the others.. I cannot speak for them."

"Of course. So..."

 **tbc**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Getting back to the city had been surprisingly easy, yet anything but comfortable. Squeezing twenty-something people into a speeder that was a tight fit for half that many hadn't been easy, nor had been evading the Imperial patrols that by now covered most of the continent. Because of that it had taken them six hours instead of only one to return to the city where the [I]Mynock[/I] was parked. Getting inside the city itself was fairly easy, at least on foot, and alone.

Ahsoka and Unduli had decided against taking the entire group inside, given that the perimeter of the city was secured by squads of stormtroopers, and the 'false prisoner' trick being both one of the oldest in the book and far too risky with a Sith on the planet. So Ahsoka, being the only one who knew the various access codes, had gone alone, sneaking in through a drainage tunnel that looked and smelt as if it had been in good use until very recently.

She kept to the side streets, avoiding the many imperial patrols roaming the streets. It seemed as if the Imps had checkpoints at every major intersection as well as roving patrols of at least squad strength in the wider back-alleys. That still left plenty of room for someone like her to move, but forced her to take a longer route to the spaceport. Of course getting in would have been difficult for anyone not a Jedi. The entrance was guarded by a quartet of stormtroopers that had displaced the same corrupt customs officials she had encountered when coming the other way. By now, she was sure, they were on the lookout for a Togruta, and she wished she'd risked taking Rex along, but it was too late for that now.

So instead of turning back, she turned her cloak up to hide herself as well as she could and stood in line with the few others that wanted to access the spaceport. The stromtroopers actually checked people instead of just waving them through, indicating that they were indeed looking for her. She surreptitiously took out her datapad and sent a quick low-powered signal to the [I]Mynock[/I]s onboard computers. She sighed with relief when they answered with an equally low-powered signal indicating that they were still functioning and that no one had tried to tamper with the systems. There was still a chance that that someone could have been a very good slicer and done it anyway, but at least a certain security was still there.

When Ahsoka reached the guardpost, she could see by the posture alone that the stormtroopers were massively bored with their duty to put it mildly.

"Identification please." the sergeant said, sounding as bored as he looked.

"You don't need to see my identification."

"I don't need to see your identification."

"I can pass through."

"You can pass through. Move along."

She did and walked past the stormtroopers with a half-grin on her face. Ahsoka ignored the odd looks she was getting from the others and instead walked towards where she had parked the _Mynock_ with a brisk, but not running pace.

The shuttle was where she'd left it.

Before she lowered the access ramp, she did a series of checks to see if anything had been tampered with, but she found nothing. Filing an entirely pointless flight plan with the imps now manning what passed for traffic control as well as ducking down to the terrain and getting back to where Unduli and the others were waiting took only minutes. She landed the shuttle on the same clearing where they had hidden the speeder and took great pains to maneouvre it so that they were hidden from at least any casual observers that might fly overhead.

Ahsoka remained seated as Rex and Chewbacca piled the others into the shuttle, knowing that it would be next to impossible to move around once everyone was in. Unduli somehow managed to take the seat beside her. Ahsoka wanted Chewbacca as a co-pilot, but the tall Wookie couldn't fit through any more than she did. It was as awkward as she feared, now that they did not have anything immediate task to distract them.

"Master, I-"

Before she could say anything, Ahsoka was interrupted by a sound she knew all too well. The howling sound of Ion engines. The two TIE-Fighters screamed overhead, and while it seemed for a moment as of they were just flying by, Ahsoka knew that they had to have spotted the shuttle. With one smooth movement she fired up the engines and energized the turrets.

"Everyone inside back there?" she yelled into the intercom. Rex shoved the last of his men up the ramp before running up himself. He squeezed past the people sitting on the deck, closed the ramp and slammed button for the intercom. "We're all on board, Commander!"

"Hold on back there!" she yelled and fired the repulsorlifts. She didn't bother with turning, instead pointed the shuttles nose at the thin foilage above them and pushed the throttles to the stops. The _Mynock_ instantly broke through the leaves, with the two TIEs still fairly far away, too far away for more than speculative fire. Her own turrets, on automode, tracked the two nearest targets and fired, but also missed.

Ahsoka knew that this close to the city it would be suicide to try and reach space, so instead she headed for the mountains, trying to put some distance between herself and any TIEs. Even empty a Rho would have had a hard time outflying them there, and now she behaved a lot more like something larger, a YT-1300 for example, so Ahsoka had her hands full. Yet the _Mynock_ was anything but a standard shuttle, and by the point where they dipped into the low valleys of the foothills, she was still ahead.

By that time they were pursued by no less than six TIEs, and even the best piloting couldn't keep them from landing the occasional hit. Laser fire zig-zagged in both directions, but Ahsoka decided she had to risk ascending into space right now. They had to get into hyperspace as soon as possible and before the _Iron Fist_ could bring an overwhelming number of TIEs and all her firepower to bear.

"We need to risk it now." Unduli said. Ahsoka bit back a less than friendly reply. That wasn't the time for it. So instead of saying anything, Ahsoka turned the shuttle into the next branching valley. The TIEs took a few seconds to make the turn. In fact, one of the pilots underestimated just how much the performance degraded in an atmosphere and slammed headlong into the rocks.

Ahsoka had used that time well, pulled up and moved the last bits of reserve energy into the engines. In spite of the extra mass the drive had to move, the _Mynock_ shot towards space at nearly half again the speed a Rho-Class shuttle was normally capable of. Of course by the time they reached the upper fringes of the atmosphere, _Iron Fist_ had executed a microjump and blocking their escape route. She briefly considered just breaking past, but the groups of TIEs clearly hounding them towards the Star Destroyer pud paid to that idea just as much as her knowledge that she would never make it past the tractor beams if she went in as close as she would have to. So all that remained was to go the only way that was open, of sorts. Straight into the asteroid field about fifty seconds at top speed away. Right about now she wished she'd had the space to install a manned turret, but the automated ones would have to do. Two quick switches took all energy away from the forward shields and distributed it evenly between the engines and the turrets.

She knew that getting a hyperspace jump calculated this jumble of drive sources and gravitational pulls was possible, but even though she had started the computer on the task as soon as they'd left the upper layers of the planetary atmosphere behind, it would take at least two or three minutes.

"You're going into that asteroid field?" Unduli asked incredulously and speaking for the first time in several minutes.

Ahoska shook her head. "No other choice, Master. At least in there that thing won't be able to follow us." she said, nodding towards where [I]Iron Fist[/I] was slowly coming up astern. Fully aware of the people crammed into the back, she tried to avoid the worst of the smaller bumps such a ride was sure to cause, but she still made a mental note to have the med-teams stand by when they rendezvoused with _Fearless_.

The TIEs did not follow them in.

She knew that Paqua was a lot less prone to wantonly sacrificing her people than many Imperial commanders, but she knew that the respite was purely temporary. Sooner or later she would just set her ship's firepower against the asteroids until the [I]Mynock[/I] was either destroyed or flushed out. As she followed the length of the field, she glanced at Unduli.

"Master could you do me a favour and send a message for me as soon as we get out of this field?"

Unduli was tempted to ask where to, but she could see that distracting Ahsoka any more than she did herself was a fast way to get them all killed, if her clearly Skywalker inspired piloting didn't first. But somehow she managed both, and for the first time since they'd met again, Unduli was confronted with the truth that this wasn't the young, angry and confused Padawan she'd last seen all those years ago.

What she had in front of herself was someone who could one day be one of the strongest Jedi Masters in history.

Somehow that humbled her. Even as she committed the information Ahsoka was giving her to memory, Unduli decided that she had to make amends, and not only because how she had acted out of a sense of failure. She had failed in training her own Padawan had all but tried to ignore the problem until it went away.

And that had cost Ahsoka Tano everything and the Order one of it's most promising students. And she, Jedi Master Luminara Unduli had done nothing to prevent it, just because it would have meant admitting her own failure to more than her own mind. But was there anything she could do to atone for that failure?

Glancing at the scopes on the instrument panel in front of her, she could see that they were nearing the edge of the field.

She began to set the comm system to Ahsoka's instructions. The message, nothing more than a series of alphanumeric code, was to be sent not to a specific location but aimed along a certain vector. With that in mind she knew that the range would be relatively limited, but there had to be someone along that line to receive the message. She could also see that there were still three TIEs behind them that had survived the field as well as the defensive fire from the turrets, so Unduli hoped that the jump to lightspeed wasn't too far off.

On her scope the transmission quality indicated changed from a wobbling reddish yellow to green, and before Ahsoka could tell her to do so, Unduli pressed the button with a single finger.

From her seat, Ahsoka only nodded, and when a beeping sound indicated something, she placed her hand on the lever for the hyperdrive. "Everyone hold on, we're making the jump!"

The stars turned into streaks.

* * *

She wasn't given to fear any more than any other Jedi, but when she saw that the location where they emerged from hyperspace was an empty system where the only distinctive feature was an ice planet and an asteroid field. She didn't feel any fear, she merely felt unsettled. In the pilot's seat, Ahsoka didn't seem to be too happy either, though for seemingly different reasons. In hyperspace, she had taken the time to go back and see how many extra scrapes and bruises their escape had caused. There had been no permanent injuries, but a few broken arms. She had apologized profusely even as she had done her best assisting Rex and the closest thing present to a medic.

Now back in her seat, she kept checking the scanner readouts and the comm system until...

The message was short, only a six-digit sequence of numbers that meant nothing to Unduli, but that made Ahsoka grin in a way Unduli hadn't seen since before the temple bombing.

"Master, it seems our transportation is about to arrive."

"I hoped we wouldn't have to go to wherever the coun... Order is in such cramped conditions."

Ahsoka shook her head. "No, that was never the plan, though if something had gone wrong... the _Mynock_ would have only had the fuel to make it about two thirds of the way. We would have had to refuel at Corellia or somewhere around there to make it all the way."

"That close to the Core Worlds? Isn't that risky?"

There was no accusation in the tone of her voice, only honest enquiry.

"Of course, but if you come in on the right vector and at the right time you can hide in the shuffle. Besides, I get the strong impression that CorSec is concentrating on bigger ships, and the Imps don't have more than a token presence there. Spice, ship components and weapons are the big problems by now, the Corellians have managed to reduce piracy to a trickle."

Yes, no insecurity there. Unduli found once again that she rather liked the woman Ahsoka had become.

"I see..."

They exchanged no more words for a few minutes, yet another awkward silence settling in.

Ahsoka broke the silence a few minutes later.

"Master, about our transport-"

She was interrupted by a proximity alert as the scanners detected something coming out of hyperspace.

It was... the familiar shape of a Star Destroyer, flanked by two smaller ships.

Unduli was about to panic until she took a closer look at the biggest ship. Somehow, for some reason, it was painted in a way that the Imperial fleet would never allow, in the white and red of a Jedi star cruiser, but with an unfamiliar dark red, dark blue and white insignia. The escorts, a Carrack-class ship and a Alderaanian war frigate were decked out similarly.

She looked over at Ahsoka who smiled.

"Master, I present to you the Star Dreadnought _Fearless_ flagship and pride of the Republic Navy."

 **tbc**

 **The only even semi-canonical information I could find on the passenger capacity of the Rho was ten, but since it's supposed to be similar to the Lambda-Class, I'm splitting the difference and going with 15 for the Rho.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

"Oy, Kid! What the kriff do you think you're doin' down there?"

Han knew that 'learning the Wookie from your private slave I was expressly forbidden to have anything to do with' would not be a good answer. Instead, he dangled with the toolkit he had brought. "Repairing the waste pipe valves as I was told, Captain!" he yelled in reply.

"Who told ya to do that?" the Captain asked. Clearly he didn't believe Han.

"Track, Captain. He said to do it before he left to... go out."

That sentence covered a multitude of sins, most being of a carnal nature. Luckily Han was both telling the truth and had had the foresight to actually have that confirmed when someone else had been there. "Ask Caran if ya want, Captain. Track had him give me the tools."

He threw Jowdrrl an encouraging glance and climbed up out of the hole that led down to where the doors for the ship's slave cells were.

"All done, Captain. The pipes should be workin' again."

It had been a matter of thirty seconds to fix the valve, so Han had spent the next hour on language lessons. The last one he feared, as Jowdrrl had told him that short of actually speaking Shyriiwook he was as good as any non-Wookie was about to get.

"Then get movin' you damn runt."

Han hastily withdrew, trying hard not to show that he was desperately sad.

Being 'done' with the forbidden lessons meant several things. First, his plan to finally leave this godsforsaken ship and it's slaver crew behind would have to be set in motion soon. Second, he was going to be free. But thirdly, he knew that Jowdrrl wouldn't be and that he would not be around for Corn's inevitable wrath. The only reason the Wookie was alive still was because... Han had no idea why, but he knew that Corn would vent his anger on him.

But Han knew that he was living on borrowed time himself and that he had little choice but to leave. Right now.

What little possessions he owned were easily exchanged for the tools in his kit and stashed into the small backpack he'd come aboard with. Getting off the ship was easier said than done, but Han knew that Corn would soon enough leave for some 'entertainment' of his own. Those of his crew he didn't trust, which was almost all of them, would be little more than prisoners while he was away. Han knew this, and had planned accordingly. The docking ring of one of the escape pods had been rewired so that it sent a set of false signals to the ship's computers. So when he launched it with himself inside, the sensors should still report it as in place and under power, ready to be used.

So when he was grabbed off the floor just as he turned into the crevice that connected to the lifepods six hours later, he had no idea what to do next.

"What ya doin' kid?"

Han sighed with relief. It was the assistant Engineer, the only one who had been kind to him on occasion.

"Leavin' this scrapheap."

"So where would ya go?"

"What's it to you?" Han asked defiantly. Caran placed him down.

"Is it goin' to damage my ship?"

"Not really."

"Then never let me see your face again, Kid."

With that Caran turned and walked away.

Han picked up his things and crouched into the escape pod. He sent one last prayer of thanks towards his Wookie friend and closed the hatch.

"No time like the present."

He punched in the release code and hammered the launch button.

"Punch it!"

The pod raced out towards the planet, and as it did so, it lit up dozens of sensor scopes, several of which belonged to CorSec. Han hadn't really considered it, but this would end up keeping the ship he'd been on out of the system for a few weeks. He'd set the pod's automatic systems so that they wouldn't land in the middle of town, but manipulating it any more than that...

He'd done that part well. After a rough descent for someone used to sublight engines and repulsorlifts, the pod crashed through the treetops about twelve kilometres north of Coronet. Han knew that CorSec would track the pod soon, so he didn't waste any time and made his way towards the nearest road, intending to hitch a ride into town.

Han had seen the road about a kilometre or so to the east. It would take him only ten or fifteen minutes to get there.

In the end it took him twice that, as Han had underestimated the terrain, and he'd had to hide from the CorSec speeders that investigated the crashed pod. He figured that he had another half hour at best before they figured out it wasn't a malfunction and began to look for any occupants. Luckily the road was fairly well travelled.

Yet it still took him another ten minutes to get someone to stop. Hardly surprising, really, since hitch-hiking in the middle of nowhere wasn't exactly common on Corellia.

The speeder that eventually halted was of a luxury kind, that much Han could see.

"Hey kid, you need a ride?"

"Yeah, thanks, Mister." Han replied and walked over. Once he was seated inside and they were moving again, the driver asked how Han was out here.

"My date ditched me," Han lied, "she said that I was too... common. No idea what she meant. Then that crash or whatever, I turn around all I'm seein' is the taillights."

"Ouch. That sounds horrible."

They drove along for a while.

"So, my name is Han Solo."

"Garm Bel Iblis."

* * *

The _Mynock_ set down in the main hangar, some way back from the Z-95s of Blue Squadron and the Y-Wings their Gold counterparts. Ahsoka and Unduli waited while the refugees were welcomed and dealt with by the ship's medical personnel, and during that time Unduli had the leisure to look at the parts of the hangar she could see. It wasn't much, only the back wall and a few Y-Wings. Even knowing that up close they would be anything but and even with most of the outer hull removed to ease maintenance, the bombers looked like something straight out of the Clone War with their gold-accented white paint and that same insignia on side, as well as squadron insignia on the top.

Ahsoka said nothing while Unduli looked around, knowing from experience that it was best to let new arrival take things in on their own time.

It was Chewbacca who returned to them to announce that they were the last ones on board, so Ahsoka turned off the last of the on-board systems and rose from her seat.

"If you will, Master Unduli?"

"Of course."

Unduli followed Ahsoka off the ramp where she waited while the young Togruta stepped aside talk with the deck crew. It gave the Jedi Master a chance to take in her surroundings. _Fearless_ had to have been a volunteer-crewed ship, and it showed in the plethora of different species that could be seen. They all wore the uniform of the Republic Judicial forces or bright orange flight suits with presumably squadron insignia. What amazed her was that more than a few of the pilots, but by no means all, had lightsabres clipped to their belts and when she tentatively reached out into the Force, they turned out to be trained Jedi. In fact, she recognized some of them as former Padawans. Her presence went not unnoticed, but beyond a few odd glances and Force-contacts no one approached.

To her right, Ahsoka was giving instructions with the sort of practised ease that spoke of shared experience and familiarity. The Jedi among those she could see where exceptionally well shielded but the non-force users seemed to have no problem with showing their personal loyalty towards their commander.

Ahsoka eventually returned and silently waited for a set of what Unduli recognized as Republic Judicial Forces troopers to arrive, armed for ship-board combat. Obviously they were here to escort Rex and his men to some place where their loyalty could be ascertained. Ahsoka briefly returned to the inside of the shuttle with Chewbacca and when they returned, they were followed by the clones, unarmed and helmets off.

Waves of consternation, fear and... dislike, to put it mildly, emanated through the Force at the sight of 'stormtroopers' on their ship, but it went no further than that because of the escort and because the Jedi present seemed to be entirely unconcerned about the presence of the clones.

The background hum changed and Ahsoka explained that the ship would be making a few random hyperspace jumps before heading 'home' and before they could risk contacting the council. Unduli mentally prepared herself for that.

 **tbc**

 **Due to events in TFA I felt the need to check in on him, and I will try to do that a few times until he joins the cast for real. What can I say, Han Solo is The Man. Also, the reason why this took so long is that I really struggled with the second section. It was supposed to go into way more detail, but in the end I decided to defer someone explaining the new status quo of the order to Unduli until they return to Weitun. So yeah, this was supposed to be a lot longer and it's why this has such an aprupt ending.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

Jedi Master Luminara Unduli was worried. Oh, the conversation with via the HoloNet with the Council had gone well enough, as had her formal introduction to _Fearless_ ' officers who were some of the highest leadership of the Republic Navy.

That had been the first indication of change, how much the Jedi had been integrated into the 'normal' Republic military and no one seemed to have the slightest issue with that. She knew that this was an effect of the situation they had all found themselves in and while odd, perfectly understandable.

No, what actually worried her was that after being given the task of enlightening Master Unduli on the changes that had taken place since the Exodus, as Master Yoda had not quite put it, Ahsoka had not actually _said_ anything to the effect, but it was clear that she did not view this as an enviable task. It wasn't because of their shared past, that much Unduli was certain about because of the tentative truce they had reached.

And that was what truly worried her. Sure, she could see and sense that down below it was still the same Jedi Order. And yet it wasn't.

She was aware that adaptation was a basic precept for all sentient life and that during the final days before the Clone Wars the Order seemed to have forgotten that. She was also aware that her unease with the concept was a flaw that she had to get rid of eventually, that much she had quickly realized during her time as a guerilla leader. Now she had left her people behind on [I]Fearless[/I] where they and the former Stromtroopers were being processed.

Glancing over at Ahsoka who was once more seated behind the controls of the [I]Mynock[/I], she could see that the young Jedi smiling.

"You are happy to return?" she ventured, and Ahsoka nodded.

"Yes, Master. This... Weitun, Sanctuary... they are home to me, at least as much as the Jedi Temple ever was."

She said nothing more than that, but to Unduli it was clear that there were quite a few things she hadn't said, though what these were... Unduli knew better than to pry into that. If Ahsoka felt comfortable to tell her, then she would. So instead she looked out the cockpit windows and dove into the Force, concentrating on the fast approaching settlement. Even at this distance they were almost completely undetectable against the background hum the planet had in the Force, which was of course why it had been chosen as the Order's new home. Intellectually she knew that Sanctuary was far more than a home for the Jedi, but the sheer strength of the light side of the Force that extruded from all the sentients down there was something she hadn't expected. This place was so much more full of life than any place she'd spent any time since... since before the war, really. The Force-based mixture of.. well, everything was almost intoxicating to her after so long of war and violence. The one she recognized immediately was the peaceful serenity of the Jedi, stronger than she remembered yet also more emotional at the same time.

Unduli savoured the feeling until Ahsoka brought the _Mynock_ in for a landing in front of Echo Base. The frown of worry on her face was what pulled Unduli back from the Force. "They're getting better at concealing themselves, but they have come to meet me, and they're alone."

"Who is they?`"

The shuttle stopped and instead of answering, Ahsoka flipped off the engines before excusing herself and rushing outside. Unduli followed down the ramp to see Ahsoka being hit by two balls of energy dressed in Jedi initiate robes. She hugged the both of them before pushing them slightly back.

"Where's your mother?" she asked.

"At home, Soki." the girl answered, and the boy nodded.

"Force, Leia, you know you're not supposed to come in here on your own! Don't you know how dangerous that is?" Ahsoka clearly worried a lot about those two initiates who... were not the same type of initiates she was used to. They were clearly still living with their parents, which was something unheard of before the war. Was that the sort of change that Master Yoda had hinted at? If so, then the Jedi Order was changed almost beyond recognition.

"Now, aren't you supposed to be in the Living Force class right now?"

"Master Yoda was called away and cancelled the rest of it." the boy replied, and his presumable sister nodded eagerly.

Unduli watched as the three talked. Ahsoka had told her that the Jedi Order no longer 'shunned' emotion like in the old days, but knowing it and experiencing it like this were two different things entirely.

"Never do this again, either of you!" Ahsoka admonished them.

Both children looked crestfallen now. "We're sorry!" they replied almost at the same time.

Ahsoka smiled. "I am happy to see you anyway." she said and hugged them again.

Then, as if remembering that they weren't alone and without standing back up, she turned.

"Master Unduli, may I introduce Luke and Leia Skywalker?"

"Hello."

Looking at them it was fairly obvious, and their signatures so resembled their fathers' that anyone trained enough in the Force could see the relation. Was that what Ahsoka had meant? Younglings and Initiates who did not have to sever all connections to their homes? And how far did that go? In any event, it would take some time for her to fully understand just how much the order had changed.

They made the usual polite platitudes due a Jedi Master of Unduli's standing which she acknowledged, and as Ahsoka escorted them back to the spaceport perimeter Unduli followed at a respectful distance, studying the bond and mutual love that permeated the Force between the two siblings and their father's former padawan.

Once they had reached safer grounds, Ahsoka sent them home with a promise to visit later before berating the gate guard for letting them in to begin with.

The quarters that had been assigned to Master Unduli were the same sort of spartan simplicity that she remembered from the temple, although the furniture was made out of local materials where possible, so the stonework had a slightly blue-reddish hue to it. Still, it was comfortingly familiar and after the revelations of the last hour, she needed at least something that was as she remembered it.

Ahsoka was standing in the central living area, awkwardly waiting for Unduli to finish her inspection.

"Sit down, Jedi Tano." Unduli said very formally.

When seated, Ahsoka looked at her. "You must have so many questions, Master."

"I do indeed. What I have seen, what I have sensed... is it...?"

So Ahsoka explained in great detail.

When she was done, Unduli did not say anything at first, and both Jedi let the silence stretch on. Eventually Unduli folded her hands in her lap and stared down at them.

"I knew... I knew that the Order and the Code were not perfect, ever since the end of the war. If Order... sixty-six taught us one thein then that we had been too complacent. All that time I knew that we should have adapted, should have changed when there was still time. We failed to see the obvious and let our own sense of superiority blind us."

They both knew that she wasn't just talking about Palpatine, but Ahsoka chose not to bring [I]that[/I] matter up again just yet. Instead she leaned slightly forward in her seat.

"For what it's worth Master, we were all blinded."

"Maybe." Unduli replied and looked up at her. "And yet it was us, the Jedi Masters who should have seen the truth. And now, now the truth is staring me in the face, and I do not know how I am to deal with it."

"It was... difficult for many, Master. It was a period of adjustment for most of us, myself included. You should give it time."

"I will."

Silence settled over the room once more.

"Those two children, are they truly..."

Ahsoka smiled and nodded. "Yes. They are his children. Twins, even."

"And their mother, if I may ask?"

She wasn't certain if Anakin would want her to tell Unduli everything, but then, the twins' heritage wasn't any sort of secret, in fact pretty much everyone on Weitun was very much aware of it.

"Senator Padmé Amidala, though she has formally dropped that name years ago and is 'just' a Skywalker these days."

Unduli thought back at her impressions of them. "They are exceptionally strong in the Force."

Ahsoka nodded. "Yes. Their count is as high as Ana... Master Skywalkers'. When they're fully trained they will be just as exceptionally powerful."

"You.. seem to be very close to them."

"They... I like them, I love them almost as if... as if they were my own, almost." she said, unsure just why she poured her heart out to Luminara Unduli of all people.

"They love you back, Ahsoka, that much is obvious."

"They see me as an honorary aunt, as a part of the family, Force help them. They and their parents."

It was obviously to Unduli that Ahsoka was humbled beyond belief by this, that she saw this as an honour she didn't really deserve. Which was ridiculous, going by what Unduli had seen, heard from others and generally thought of the other Jedi in the room. Ten years ago this would have been seen as the dangerous form of attachment, and maybe it still was, and yet if there was any Jedi who would not let that rule her actions, influence maybe, but not rule, then it was Ahsoka Tano. And yet...

"Isn't this exactly the sort of attachment that was forbidden?"

Ahsoka didn't take this any more personal than it was meant.

"There might come the day where I, or any other Jedi, has to sacrifice our relationships. And I know that. It's something I really, really wish to avoid if I can help it. And at the same time, this gives us strength. It is something to fight for, something to return to beyond our fellow Jedi or the nebulous masses of the Galaxy, something other than the will of the Force." she said, slightly misquoting the curriculum.

"Is it going to be easy? No. We are threading on new territory in so many ways, there is no chance we are getting it perfect right away."

Which had been the issue, Unduli had to admit. For centuries the Jedi Order had rested on its laurels, believing that the post-reformation code was sheer perfection. Now they had barely survived the realization that it hadn't been and tried out something new. Or at least 'new' in the sense that not even Master Yoda remembered a time when it had been different.

"Indeed," Unduli replied, "and we all still have so much to learn."

 **tbc**

 **Chapter 18 will return to Tatooine, I hear a certain fat slug has finally returned. At present the plan is for another ~5 chapters or so. After that, there will be a minor time jump after all (right now two or three months tops) before we set off on Episode IV. After that there will be the biggest time jump yet, which will bring us straight into what would normally be the very late Rise of the Empire era. The plan right now is for Episode V to be set in 15 AJE/4BBY.**

 **Why the time jump, I hear you ask? Well, if I didn't do one we wouldn't reach OT times until I die of old age, and the entirety of this was supposed to culminate in or after the Original Trilogy-era. It always was my favourite era (which is why I am incredibly hyped for Rouge One) and I cannot wait to get a certain set of characters into the cockpit of an INCOM T-65 X-Wing.**

 **NOTE: For some reason, the site won't let me access your most recent reviews. I see them in the count and get e-mail notifications, but when I click links in those, I get a 'non-existing message' error. I have not forgotten you, but that's the way things are right now. Hopefully fixed soon.**


	18. Chapter 18

**NOTE: For some reason, the site won't let me access your most recent reviews. I see them in the count and get e-mail notifications, but when I click links in those, I get a 'non-existing message' error. I have not forgotten you, but that's the way things are right now. Hopefully fixed soon.**

 **Chapter 18**

 _"Well, if there's a bright centre to the universe, you're on the planet that it's farthest from."_  
Unknown

To Anakin the burning sunlight was still uncomfortably familiar to him. The walk up to Jabbas Palace was not a path he relished taking again, but at least this time there were no battledroids trying to keep Ahsoka from reaching there too. Olin knew better than to disturb him when he was like this, so when they finally reached the massive metal gate, it was the first time either of them spoke since they had set off from Mos Eisley. Both took a deep drink from their water bottles before Anakin raised his metal hand to knock on the door.

"Let me take the lead, don't look directly at Jabba unless things start to go wrong and for the sake of any god that might exist in this galaxy, ignore everything that goes on around us unless it's a direct threat."

Olin nodded, and Anakin lowered his hand. "Ferrus, I don't like this. I don't like this at all, and I need to depend on you in there."

"I know."

Anakin didn't reply and instead just knocked on the door. The small droid that came out of a small porthole in the massive door exchanged a few words in Huttese with Anakin before retreating.

"Well, at least I got us in." Anakin replied, a slight grin on his face. In days past, Olin would have been angry at him for not being serious about anything, but now he knew better. This was Anakin Skywalker trying to seem relaxed and in control and taking things very seriously indeed.

The cavernous inside of the palace was a dark place, so they both waited near the door until Jabba's Majordomo came to meet them. The Twi'lek motioned for them to follow and eventually they were led into the throne room.

Jabba hadn't changed much from the war, at least to Anakin, and seemed to be taking this meeting very seriously, as evidenced by the fact that neither Jedi had been 'asked' to surrender his weapon. Another sign was that there was no band playing, nor were there more than a handful of the slave girls the crime lord liked so much present.

So when the Majordomo returned to his masters side, Anakin stepped forward and both Jedi bowed as deep as was possible before introducing themselves.

"Almighty Jabba, we are honoured by your decision to receive us. We represent the Galactic Republic and in the name of our leaders, wish to enter into a mutually beneficial and satisfactory business arrangement with you."

Jabba laughed. ((The Republic, you say? Last time I was in the core worlds, the Galactic Empire ruled there.))

"That is true of course, but the Empire does not hold sway everywhere in this galaxy. The exhalted realm of the Hutts is but the most prominent and powerful example."

((The Emperor calls you Rebel Scum, Skywalker, and if that is true, what does your... Republic have to offer me, in return for whatever it is you dare to ask of me?))

"Mighty Jabba, allow me to begin with what the Republic humbly requests of you, then we can discuss what it is you want in compensation. I have it on a holoprojector."

He moved his hand into the pockets of his pants and even though the guards stiffened around him, he just removed a holoprojector from them and activated it. Instantly, a blue-ish and somewhat simplistic wireframe model of _Fearless_ hovered above his hand.

"This is _Fearless_ the flagship of our fleet. She is a Victory-I Class Star Dreadnought and because of that, underpowered. What we desire of you is a yard in which to refit her to our specifications and via your contacts access to the... unofficial market for starship parts, both the Victory Class and others. And of course your silence on these matters towards anyone, especially the Empire."

Silence reigned, and for a moment Anakin feared he had been too forward, but then Jabba began to laugh again.

((You do not think small, you and your Republic! he said, But, for the sake of argument, what would you compensate me with?))

Olin stepped forward now. "To that end we have earmarked hard currency to the countervalue of seventeen million credits, Imperial, as well as freight and the ships they are on, with an additional value of twenty-nine million credits. And change."

((Forty-six million? For that you could almost buy a new ship.))

"True," Anakin replied after once again translating in a low voice, "but we like this one, your eminence, and we have already heavily modified it as far as our limited and humble means allow."

((So why should I help you, and not turn you in to the Empire after I take your money?))

"Because of course there will only be a partial payment before we get our ship back, say, half? And because... well..."

Anakin paused, trying to find words that wouldn't get them both thrown into the droid foundry Jabba was rumoured to have somewhere in this palace.

"Because, almighty and wise Jabba, you owe me one." he said, "Theoretically, your son's return was compensated for by the use of your spacelanes for the Grand Army, yes, but not only is this a personal favour than allowing ships to move through empty space could ever be, but it is also a source of credits that would be entirely free of any sort of... traction problems inside the Imperial banking system, as well as a sum that is too large to pass up. Also, the ever wise Hutts are known to stick to their agreements once made."

The blatant lie of the last sentence came easy to Anakin, especially since he knew that Jabba was at least intrigued. Forty-six million Imperial might be chump-change for him in the long run, but it was still a considerable sum that he would be paid for next to no effort of his own. That said...

"Of course, you will of course wonder what else we require of you. Aside from your what has already been mentioned, we require nothing. Republic assets in workers and droids would be used to carry out the work," he said, once more not mentioning that this would be taxing their resources to the breaking point and that everyone was hoping that Jabba's droid workforce would do at least some of the work for them, "we would use our own diplomats and ships to buy the parts from your factors."

((The trade for parts would be going through me?))

"Yes, oh exhalted one. If you so desire, we would buy the parts directly from you or anyone you deem worthy of representing you."

After this, Jabba leaned back, as far as that was possible for his species. ((That is an intriguing offer indeed, Skywalker. I will have to consider it. Until then, consider yourselves my guests.))

Knowing that they were as good as dismissed, both Jedi bowed deeply before being led deeper into the depths of the palace by the same majordomo.

Once they were as alone as could be expected, seated in a very plush set of rooms, certain to be bugged in some fashion, Olin turned to him.

"He'll fleece us dry and he'll dry to cheat us at every turn."

"Of course," Anakin shrugged, "but this is still a deal that will net him a tidy little sum that he can use to annoy the Empire with."

And that was the point, wasn't it. The Empire was starting to really put pressure in the huts, especially when it came to slaves and weapons. Anakin knew that especially the former was the height of hypocrisy, yet he didn't care, as all this was giving the Republic the opening it needed.

"And of course all he has to do is let us have one of his shipyards for a year or so, keep away a few prying eyes for no extra cost in terms of parts or workforce. Let's just hope he hates the Empire enough for that."

"Indeed. And Ferrus, keep in mind that you can't really win with a Hut, only manage how badly you loose. That, and the one thing they hate more than being messed with is being indebted to someone. That's our biggest advantage here."

After a restless night of sleep where Anakin had taken the first watch by unspoken consensus, they were once more standing before the Hutt crime lord. Unusually for him, he spoke before his Majordomo.

((Your offer is an intriguing one, Skywalker. But there is this, what would be my compensation if the Empire were to find out in spite of my efforts and yours?))

"There can be some sort of arrangement of course."

((Yes. And it will be this: I will accept your proposal, and in exchange the Republic will ignore my various business ventures, all of them.))

The two Jedi looked at one another. It was left unsaid, but that would include the slave trade. If they accepted this in the name of the Republic, then sooner or later this would be getting out. Yet they both knew that they didn't have much of a choice. Jabba had to know that the Republic couldn't do much to influence him anyway, and yet the thought behind this was what counted. So Olin just shrugged.

"For a limited period. Allmighty Jabba, we do have interests of our own, and eventually yours and ours will come into conflict again."

((I like your honesty, Skywalker. It is such a rare thing for you humanoids. Jabbe replied, once more roaring with laughter, with his minions dutifully joining in. Twenty years.))

"Seven."

((Fifteen.))

"Ten."

Jabba contemplated their offer. ((Send someone to negotiate the particulars with me. Two weeks.))

"Our representative will contact you here."

((Then consider your proposal accepted.))

After this it took them less than fifteen minutes to be complimented out of the palace. The first thing Olin said when the gate closed behind them was: "That was far too easy."

"Oh I agree. Somewhere along the line we will be paying the price for this, and that goes beyond Imperial credits. It will be a hefty one."

"You're thinking of the slave trade, aren't you."

They began to walk back towards where they had hidden their transportation.

"Yes. The Empire _will_ find out and they will use this for their own advantage. It's not going to be all that successful with the people who hate them already, but in places like Coruscant..."

Olin couldn't help but agree.

"It's not like we have much of a choice, now do we?"

Anakin thought of _Fearless_ , and everything he had experienced on her, from the birth of his children to the first time he'd launched his Z-95 out of her hangar bay. Far too much depended on that ship being there.

"No," he said and shook his head, "we don't really have much of a choice.

 **tbc**

 **NOTE: For some reason, the site won't let me access your most recent reviews. I see them in the count and get e-mail notifications, but when I click links in those, I get a 'non-existing message' error. I have not forgotten you, but that's the way things are right now. Hopefully fixed soon.**


	19. Chapter 19

**Thanks y'all. I'm in my end-of-story writing mode, so yeah. TJ, you are of course correct, though I admit a lot of that is entirely accidental. When I wrote that chapter I was mostly thinking of your #4.**

Chapter 19

 _Excerpt from a Republic political report_

… and with the suspension of search operations for the _Outbound Flight_ , there is little incentive for our limited assets to continue probing deeper into the Unknown Regions beyond securing a 'tripwire'-type sensor perimeter around Weitun.

To that end we have begun stationing autonomous sensor stations in the surrounding systems that will give us some forewarning, However, due to technological limitations and our need to keep any transmission be very low-signature, this forewarning will not give us a very long response time. It is also dependent on any Imperial attack force using the surrounding systems as a staging area.

However, once the refit of _Fearless_ is complete, even a limited exploration of the deeper space beyond Weitun should be conducted, if only to confirm the political borders of the Chiss Ascendancy and to seek, as suggested by Senator Skywalker prior to her departure for Tatooine, some sort of political accommodation with them.

For this the primary motivator would be to prevent possible Chiss knowledge of our location from spreading to Imperial Intelligence.

Section 15 Further Operations towards Core Worlds

Future military operations against the Imperial position in the Outer Rim are of the highest importance, especially with the probable absence of our strongest warship for what could be two standard years. However, the suggested 'subversion campaign' towards Coruscant is not going to be implemented beyond the Droid espionage programme. Republic Naval Intelligence has started implementation of said programme and a full and detailed review can be found in Appendix 15/1, so here only a broad overview of our most recent efforts in that area will be provided.

15.1 Droid Infiltration

1) At the present time our stocks of infiltration droids are severely limited. However, RNI has managed to infiltrate several of the first production models into the Imperial supply system and expects first results to become available within the next four or five standard weeks.

2) Future planning, depending on available stocks of infiltration droids, is to concentrate the first wave of droids in the core worlds, mostly because here the chance is greatest to capture relevant data from suitably high-ranking Imperial officials. As has been stated in RNI's initial report about the programme the chance is great that much of the data collected is not as useful as we might anticipate.

15.2 Expansion of and alliance with existing Rebel cells

Expansion of existing cells of rebel elements aligned with the Republic continues on most worlds. However, due to the nature of a cell-based organization and the ruthless nature of Imperial counter-efforts this continues at a slow pace. To take an example, efforts at spreading Republic influence among the disaffected elements on Toprawa has not been met by success because the local Imperial garrison managed to destroy several of our cells on that world. Investigation into the reasons for this is still ongoing, but the disaster has definitely hampered our efforts there. (For current stand on Toprawa investigation, see Appendix 15/2.1.

The easiest way to expand Republic influence is to continue our outreach to existing local groups. Details on our efforts in this area are of course highly confidential and restricted to the Republic and Jedi Councils, but it is within the scope of this report to give a general overview of the situation. However, expansion efforts here continue.  
It can be said that most of the significant worlds of the Outer Rim where it faces the Unknown Regions where Rebel cells already exist have aligned themselves with the Republic to varying extents. Some have submitted themselves to Republic command and oversight, while others have 'merely' sought an alliance with us in exchange for military and logistical assistance from us. While this will definitely create problems when we manage to defeat the Empire, at the present time it is suitable and fits our needs.

15.3 Raising and training of new cells

Where no cells already exist or where Imperial counter-efforts have proven to be unusually effective, the raising of new cells is generally our primary efforts. However, the sheer size of the galaxy and our finite resources in both suitable trainers and material to arm those cells with severely limits our reach in this area.

Therefore it has been decided that our effort should be concentrated on strategically important worlds where enough unrest already exists that would allow us to form active cells with relative ease. As with training efforts with existing cells, the actual details are highly confidential.

* * *

 _Excerpt from a highly confidential Imperial intelligence report sent to Director Isard_

… finished, and yet, the building site shows only very limited activity that isn't planetbound. Most activity at the construction site limits itself to maintaining the work that had already been done.

The prison camp has been established and movement of additional workforce has begun. However, the camp must still be guarded against periodic attack by the aboriginal population of the moon.

To summarize, I found the situation in the Endor system to be more or less on schedule again by the time I left.

During transit to the Maw Installation, I have already submitted a list of arrests that needed to be made, and by the time you receive this report, they should have been carried out.

It must be said that Governor Tarkin has chosen the location well. Approaching it is incredibly difficult even if the pilot of the ship has made the run before and explains the number of ships lost during construction of the facility. In the end the tradeoffs are worth it when one considers that it is next to impossible for anyone not already aware of it to find the facility.

Several of the larger research and development labs have already commenced work, especially the labs involving the engineering challenges presented by this project. As I have already stated in my previous report, the suggestions regarding the heat venting of the main reactor have already been passed on and a grate dense enough to prematurely detonate any incoming projectile has been added to the already projected ray-shielding of any and all heat vents directly connected to the main reactor.

While the chance of anyone traversing the trench, avoiding massive defences both fixed and from the station's starfighter complement before making a shot against a target that's not even two metres wide even with computer assistance is so remote as to be considered non-existent, random chance is a factor that needs to be considered. Governor Tarkin unfortunately failed to do so.

On a slightly more personal note, Tarkin does not like to be corrected about anything.

At any rate, the primary issue with construction of the DS-1 is power supply. The station is among the largest artificial constructs ever constructed, the basic principles behind constructing spherical space stations is fairly well understood. The issue here is that scaling up Imperial and Separatist experience with constructing large spherical objects has proven to be surprisingly difficult. The initial idea of constructing the station in 'slices' and so slowly create the spherical form has proven to be unfeasible due to the structural nature of the reactor chamber.

However, this has been turned into a virtue, because at present the plan is to construct the reactor chamber first, and then expand the bare support structure around it until the basic framework of the station has reached the desired size.

Ironically the by far biggest problem is power supply. Generating the power required for the proposed super-laser is an engineering challenge almost as great as the rest of the station. The problem is not so much how to generate the power since hypermatter reactors of the size required are deemed possible, but more that it is unclear how to control a reactor of that side. If said reactor were to have a runaway reaction, it would be essentially unstoppable and destroy the station.

Once again, Governor Tarkin has taken steps to solve that problem, but it will be at least four or five years before any permanent solution can be found. Once again the primary issue is the sheer size of the project.

Unfortunately, I am unable to give you anything more than a guess on a completion date.

What I can do however is point out that in my preliminary estimation, the chances for success without any sort of significant delay occurring is close to zero.

The chance of the project overall being successful is somewhat higher, though still not close to certain. In Governor Tarkin's own estimation the chances are near certain. While I consider that to be very optimistic with a figure of fifty being the upper limit of what I consider realistic, his confidence in the project bodes well for the future.

2.0

Director, you asked me to give you my input on how to best reveal the station to the general public should that become necessary. When I voiced those concerns to Governor Tarkin, he dismissed them out of hand, claiming that not only would the station be the ultimate power in the galaxy, intimidate rebellious elements through sheer fear of it's power and because of that not need any sort of 'propaganda screen' as he put it.

Once more I must point out that while Tarkin is an excellent administrator for this project, he should not be given ultimate command, as the order for the propaganda screen was issued by the Emperor himself which should be enough for Tarkin to be convinced of the need for it. While this needs to be kept in mind, at present I recommend no unusual activity beyond monitoring his communications in a suitably circumspect manner.

To return to my initial task, the issue once again comes down to size. To give an example, a wartime separatist battlesphere could be easily disguised as any number of civilian applications, but a battlestation the size of a small moon with the largest laser cannon yet constructed is hard to disguise as a 'weather research station' or 'planetary traffic control', just to use a few wartime examples.

Suggestions have been made from various quarters, with several proposals being listed in Appendix 2, though I have to admit that it remains debatable how serious some of those proposals can be taken. For instance no one would take believe a claim that the station was made of cheese and acted as a planetary food reserve or that two round ears should be added and that the station would then act as a space-borne commercial for a certain fictional rodent from the entertainment industry.

More serious proposals include actually making it appear like a moon and disguising it as a small orphan planet, painting it the 'general background of space' so that it would not be seen to begin with or stating that it was a planetary ore extractor used to break up uninhabited planetary bodies for the ores contained in their crust and cores.

My recommendations are collected in Appendix 2.1.

In any event I feel it is my duty to point out that any sort of excuse or disguise for the finished product will not be needed for a number of years, so if the Emperor so chooses he can of course put off any decision until the project was actually successful.

Generally it must also be said that...

tbc

Turns out, five chapters was a bit optimistic in the sense of what I wanted to say for the remainder of this Episode. Next one is going to be the Epilogue. For instance, both parts of this were supposed to be their own chapters, but wouldn't fill up more than a single page each, even though I tried hard.

To add to the pile of things to rant about in the prequels is that the Death Star seems to be damn near done in ROTS, which makes me ask how the hell it still took them twenty years to bolt on some hull elements... Which is why I am hereby head-canoning it as that taking lace an xy number of years later.


	20. Chapter 20

**Epilogue**

"I don't like it."

Padmé turned to her husband and smiled. "Of course you don't, my love. But I am a diplomant, and you're not."

Anakin grumbled. "I still don't. Not on Tatooine."

"Olin and Obi-Wan will be going with me, we'll be fine."

"Hrm."

She couldn't help the grin as she reached up and cupped his cheek with her hand. "Oh hush, you."

Anakin grinned in return. "I love you."

"I know." she said. They kissed.

Padmé picked up her back and walked over to the shuttle, with Anakin watching until Olin stepped to his side.

"I'll take care of them, Anakin. I promise."

Turning towards the other Jedi, Anakin smiled wearily. "I know that. It's just that I'd rather see her go to Coruscant than Tatooine, and if something happened to her, it would destroy me."

But then he registered what Olin had said. "Wait, how..."

Olin laughed. "She told me, Anakin! Besides, there's more than one Force presence around her. It's barely there, but if you know what to look for. Congratulations."

"Thank you."

"Are you certain the Galaxy can take a fifth Skywalker?"

"I hope so, Ferrus, I really, truly hope so."

"Nothing will happen."

Anakin watched his wife disappear into the shuttle and sighed. "I know that, and I appreciate it, Ferrus."

He turned and placed his hand on Olin's shoulder. "Thank you."

Anakin walked back to where Ahsoka was waiting, before watching the shuttle depart.

"So, what's now?" his former Padawan asked.

"Now I go eat something, then home to mope in my living room before picking up my children to spend some quality time with them. You know how they are when one of us has to leave when they can't see us off."

"I know, Skyguy."

Anakin sighed and then couldn't help but laugh. "I'd be doomed without the two of you, you know that, right?"

"Of course I do."

A growling noise was heard.

"Force, you really are hungry, aren't you, Master?"

"Be silent, young one." Anakin replied with a grin. "Really, however did your Master ever put up with your snippiness?"

She shrugged. "Eh, he managed."

He laughed again. "Come on, Snips. I'll let you invite me, in exchange for all the trouble you got me into."

"By that logic you should be getting Master Kenobi dinner to the day he dies, then."

More laughter.

"May your Padawan just as bad!"

* * *

They had openly stolen the ship and the supplies that were on it.

Plenty of small freighters were waiting to be disposed of by Republic contacts in the settled galaxy, and ideally they would not actually miss this small Sullustan ship, at least long enough for the fleeing former members of the Order being far enough away to not be found.

Officially none of them had permission to leave the planet, but at least they had all resigned from the Order by turning in their lightsabres. They all had replacements or components to build a new one, but the gesture had to be made.

That had been eight weeks ago, and now they were deep enough in the Unknown regions to be essentially unfindable, especially with the series of random jumps they had made.

Deciding to simply pack up and leave Weitun hadn't been easy, but the call had been made for them when the Council had supported Republic leadership in their misguided efforts to secure a temporary alliance with Jabby the Hut. After that it had taken only a week more of planning and selecting a ship, along with another week of gathering the supplies. For all the issues they had with the Jedi Order, leaving it behind hadn't been easy for any of them. For all of them the Jedi had been home since they were babies, and they had taken considerable time to come to the conclusion that leaving was their only chance at serving the Force in the true way.

The idea to do so had first been floated only days after the Council had relaxed the old Code, but back then they had all hoped to reverse the changes. Of course the Skywalkers had turned themselves into the darlings of the Order and the Republic, so getting anyone to realize that their way was false and untrue to the Force was a task that could only end in failure.

So they surrendered their swords and left. They had no idea if there had been any serious attempt to bring them back, but in the end they didn't really care.

The pilot, a Bothan female, checked her sensor scopes for any sort of place where they could settle down. It wasn't as if they were deep enough to avoid the Republic permanently.

What they needed was an uninhabited planet that they would colonize, but not that far away that they could not seek out further Force sensitives. But looking for a place to stock up their perishables such as plain water were never unneeded, so she kept checking her displays.

Because of this, she saw the ship as soon as it emerged from hyperspace.

Quickly alerting the others, she slowed down and began a slow approach course, mostly because the sensor readings were unlike anything she had ever seen.

BY the time the unofficial leadership of their group had reached the small bridge, they were easy within sight range.

"What is it?" someone asked.

She motioned at the ship.

"You tell me, Kiran. This is unlike anything I have ever even heard about."

He looked up and saw that she was right. The ship looked... almost like a Alderaanian whale, except that it was of a yellowish base colour and had a series of black spots all over the hull. Somehow, it worried him, even though the freighter was unarmed and they posed no threat to anyone. Still.

"Get the Navicomputer warmed up."

"Yes."

"Send them a message too."

The message was sent out almost immediately, identifying them as a group of peaceful Jedi colonists.

No reply was received.

"You know what, I think that ship is... somehow, alive. There is something... not quite a Force signature, but it's not dead matter. I can't explain it."

She didn't have to, because by now they all felt it.

The ship, or whatever it was, came closer until it hovered above them.

"Get us out of here!"

The Force rippled with danger around them.

Without needing orders, the pilot turned the ship around and firewalled the engines, but even as she did that, she knew that there was little she could do, and by the time the fighters were launched from the other ship, the Jedi freighter had barely made it out of tractor beam range.

The first blaster bolt impacted their weak shields, and minutes later, there was nothing left but an expanding cloud of debris.

 **The End (For now)**

 **Final notes:**

 **These too were supposed to be their own chapter, but these too wouldn't work out as single entries. Before you ask, originally I was also going to describe their leaving more, but as much as I tried to write that part, I couldn't get it to work, so I jumped to this one. And what I've done with all this is to doom myself to actually get and read a certain series of novels I swore I'd never touch...**

 **Aaaaanyhoows, I don't know when I'll get started on Episode IV, mostly because I have some work-related stuff to do in my supposed time off, but expect at least the title crawl in at most two weeks. Until then so long, thanks for all the fish and may the Force be with you.**


End file.
